The new Alumni Association (EAA) board will take up office in January 2024, holding their first meeting at EMBL Hamburg on 1-2 February.

Voted in by 522 alumni from a pool of 30 candidates, the new board is representative of the wider community and is comprised of:

• Pavel Tomancak: Chair
• George Simos: Vice Chair
• Anne-Marie Glynn: Vice Chair

• Marina Chekulaeva
• Emmanuelle Fabre
• Sara Fahs
• Mark Green
• Johanna Höög
• Anne-Sophie Huart
• Ramesh Pillai
• Ernst Stelzer
• Erin Tranfield
• Thomas Vaccari

Additionally, the incumbent Treasurer Annabel Goulding and Deputy Treasurer Britta Schläger, elected in 2021, will continue their roles within the board. Learn more about the new board members on the Alumni Association board pages.

Looking ahead

Newly elected EAA Board Chair Pavel Tomancak shared his motivation for the work and his hopes for his term in office: “I wouldn’t be where I am without EMBL, and that’s why I give my time to the Alumni Association – I enjoy these meetings very much. I think the Alumni Association is the best place for bottom up activities, so when I become chair in January, I’d like to facilitate one or two such activities.”

Assuming office from January 2024, the EAA new board will collaborate closely with the EMBL Alumni Relations team to support and enhance the delivery of EMBL’s mission to advance life sciences research across Europe and beyond, and nurture a vibrant and engaged community of current and former staff and friends worldwide.

A Glimpse into Board Responsibilities

Selected every four years by members of the EAA, the board represents a cross-section of committed former staff who each have a passion for EMBL and a belief in supporting its aims and its global community. Their biannual meetings serve as platforms to hear about EMBL and its Alumni Relations programme,  in order to contribute towards its sustained development through discussion and feedback. Learn more about the board’s responsibilities.

Thank you to departing EAA board members

As the torch passes to the new board, heartfelt gratitude is extended to outgoing board members Fátima Gebauer (Chair), Christian Engel (Vice-Chair) Julius Brenneke, Isabel Palacios and Kai Simons, for their unwavering commitment and valuable contributions as board members and leaders. Fátima’s tenure, characterised by her empathic and energetic approach and her solution-oriented reliability, has significantly enriched the alumni community and laid strong foundations for the incoming board, building on the legacy of her predecessors Angus Lamond, Giulio Superti-Furga and Gareth Griffiths.

Fatima’s advocacy for enhanced career support for EMBL staff and alumni materialised in the successful launch of the EMBL Alumni Mentorship Programme. Originally piloted in 2021, this program has evolved into a platform accessible to all stakeholders, fostering mentorship connections that have already yielded tangible and positive career outcomes. This initiative stands as a testament to the value and impact of the EAA board as a resource for EMBL.

Fátima said: “When elected as Chair of the EMBL Alumni Association board, I said a mentoring programme would be a very useful resource. We are a huge community of people dedicated to many different types of jobs. ‘m very proud to say that the mentorship programme is now live, following a successful pilot. We made it!”