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Alumni Relations

Connecting, engaging and nurturing EMBL’s global community of current and former scientists, technicians, communicators and administrators

EMBL Alumni Awards 2025

On Friday 11 July 2025, as part of EMBL Lab Day, the annual EMBL Alumni Award ceremony provided a platform to celebrate this year’s EMBL Alumni Award recipients and the major impact they have made in their fields. Together, we honoured, and learnt more, about their remarkable contributions to genome engineering and structural biology instrumentation.

Photos and video coming soon…

Friday 11 July 2025

17:30-18:30 CEST
EMBL Alumni Awards Ceremony (online and in-person in ATC Klaus Tschira Auditorium)

About the Alumni Award recipients

Irma Querques

EMBL Heidelberg predoc from 2014 to 2018
Assistant Professor & Group Leader, University of Vienna & Max Perutz Labs
Recipient of the 2025 John Kendrew Award.

Irma Querques is a genome engineer whose groundbreaking research on CRISPR-associated transposons is paving the way for new, precise gene-editing technologies with broad potential in medicine and biotechnology. A former EMBL Heidelberg predoc (2014–2018), she combines scientific innovation with public engagement, sharing her passion for science through TED talks, festivals, and even hip-hop dance. Querques is also a Branco Weiss Fellow, ERC Starting Grantee, and Vallee Scholar. Find out more

Florent Cipriani

Former Head of Instrumentation, EMBL Grenoble
Recipient of the 2025 Lennart Philipson Award, presented by Head of EMBL Grenoble, Kristina Djinovic Carugo.

Florent Cipriani has made transformative contributions to structural biology through his development of advanced instrumentation for macromolecular crystallography. As Head of EMBL Grenoble’s Instrumentation Team (2003–2020), he led the creation of over 30 innovations — including micro-diffractometers and the CrystalDirect Harvester — now widely used at synchrotron facilities worldwide. His work has enabled thousands of experiments, advancing global biomedical research. Find out more

18:30 CEST onwards: speed networking, drinks, dinner and music (in person)

Let’s celebrate together with in-person dinner, drinks and a DJ!

Watch previous EMBL Alumni Award recipients’ talks

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