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Lab Matters

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12 February 2024 Female scientist stands in front of white shelves filled with vials of fruit flies

What I’ve learned: Anne Ephrussi

Lab Matters, People & Perspectives After 32 years at EMBL – leading a developmental biology research group and later simultaneously serving as EMBL’s Dean for its PhD programme, Anne Ephrussi has retired, ready to start her life’s next chapter.

2024

lab-matterspeople-perspectives

7 December 2023 Against blue and green background are two faux polaroids, one of an older man holding a coffee cup and the other a man in glasses

Navigating success: an EMBL alumni mentorship story

Alumni, Lab Matters A recent success story of the Alumni Mentorship Programme is that of Luis Pedro Coelho, a Portuguese former postdoctoral fellow in the Bork Group, and his mentor Frank Gannon, former EMBO Director and EMBL Group Leader and Senior Scientist.

2023

alumnilab-matters

17 November 2023

TREC – Towards the end of the first phase

Connections, Lab Matters The TREC expedition has come to the end of its first phase. The last superstop of 2023 was hosted by CIIMAR in Porto and, despite the adverse weather conditions, included many scientific and public engagement activities.

2023

connectionslab-matters

16 November 2023

EMBLetc. issue 101 published

EMBL Announcements, Lab Matters The newest issue of our online magazine dives deep into a critical research direction in developmental biology, structures of promiscuous proteins, EMBL’s newest service offerings in field research, and much, much more.

2023

embl-announcementslab-matters

31 October 2023

EMBL’s southern hemisphere connection

Connections, Lab Matters Ian Smith, Chair of EMBL Australia´s Council, chats about the synergies between the organisations, opportunities for collaboration, and ideas for exciting new programmes arising out of a recent visit to EMBL Heidelberg.

2023

connectionslab-matters

27 September 2023 A female scientist with shoulder-length hair and black shirt listens to a male scientist in burgundy shirt and white beard, seated to the right.

Five decades of EMBL visits

Connections, Lab Matters Structural biologist Shlomo Trachtenberg has made research trips to EMBL from Israel since the late 1970s and reflects on the boost EMBL’s technology provided his research, the ingredients for an ideal research institution, and his ongoing fascination with microscopes.

2023

connectionslab-matters

13 September 2023

Exploring Nexus Island

Lab Matters Learn more about the game-based workshop that lets participants experience what it feels like to be a researcher on the TREC expedition.

2023

lab-matters

8 August 2023 Clément Blanchet at the EMBL Hamburg’s P12 beamline’s experimental hutch.

Welcome: Clément Blanchet

Lab Matters, People & Perspectives Clément Blanchet has been appointed to lead the team working on small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) at EMBL Hamburg. In this interview, he talks his ambitions for the future work of the SAXS Team, his passion for science, and a memorable ‘aha’ moment he had in his early career.

2023

lab-matterspeople-perspectives

11 May 2023 An colourful image taken from the World of Molecular Biology exhibition.

The World of Molecular Biology is open 

EMBL Announcements, Lab Matters EMBL´s new permanent exhibition ‘The World of Molecular Biology’ in Heidelberg is now open for registration. The exhibition takes the visitor on a journey of scales, from genomes to ecosystems, and introduces key imaging technologies.

2023

embl-announcementslab-matters

28 April 2023 two students wear virtual reality headsets

Building a broader European science community

Connections, Lab Matters Croatian scientists and students from the Ruđer Bošković Institute and University of Zagreb visited EMBL to exchange ideas with researchers and public outreach experts on ways to increase interest, awareness, and involvement in science.

2023

connectionslab-matters

28 April 2023 Group photograph of people facing the camera holding certificates.

EMBL celebrates 43 new PhDs

Events, Lab Matters On Friday 21 April 2023, EMBL held a graduation ceremony to celebrate its newest group of PhDs who graduated during the last 12 months. The graduating class comprised 43 fellows representing 17 nationalities and all six EMBL sites.

2023

eventslab-matters

20 April 2023 Photo of a human hand introducing a small element into a machine at the SPC Facility.

EMBL Hamburg joins northern European life science consortium

Connections, Lab Matters EMBL Hamburg partners with the Hanseatic Life Science Research Infrastructure Consortium (HALRIC) to enhance life sciences research in Scandinavia and northern Germany. The consortium builds on the HALOS project to foster collaborations between industry, hospitals, and universities, leveraging…

2023

connectionslab-matters

3 April 2023 Two male scientists with safety glasses at EMBL Imaging Centre

Dispensing microscopy expertise

Lab Matters, Science & Technology Home to some of Europe’s most cutting-edge tools in molecular biology, EMBL has long shared its expertise and access to these tools through an extensive repertoire of courses, conferences, seminars, and other training. And now included in this mix is a job shadowing programme at EMBL Imaging…

2023

lab-mattersscience-technology

23 March 2023 Portrait of a person looking at the camera. In the background there are trees and a white building

Welcome: Alejandro Torres-Sánchez

Lab Matters, People & Perspectives The new group leader is setting up the first purely theory-focused research group at EMBL Barcelona. He aims to understand fundamental biological principles using mathematical models and computer simulations, in close collaboration with experimental researchers across EMBL.

2023

lab-matterspeople-perspectives

17 March 2023 Liz Duke standing on the left side of the photo, with EMBL Hamburg's P14 beamline and a big screen on the right.

Molecules to Ecosystems: Liz Duke on X-ray imaging

Lab Matters, People & Perspectives Biological X-ray imaging is an emerging technology that uses X-rays to image tissues or even entire organisms. It will play an important role in EMBL Hamburg’s future service portfolio, and will allow studying life on multiple scales. Team Leader Liz Duke discusses her plans to establish X-ray…

2023

lab-matterspeople-perspectives

7 March 2023 Black and white photograph showing a group of scientists standing in frnot of a building.

Tracing the history of women in science at EMBL

Lab Matters On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2023, EMBL archivist Maria Papanikolaou discusses the traces left by the women in science who have passed through EMBL, irrevocably changing the organisation in small and big ways.

2023

lab-matters

1 March 2023 Moisés Bueno is standing next to the transfer robot. The robot has a form of a yellow robotic arm on a stand. Behind is the CrystalDirect™ Harvester, which is a white cuboid with two transparent dimmed windows for laser protection.

Biology meets engineering

Lab Matters, Science & Technology Physicists, engineers and robotics experts work together in EMBL Hamburg’s Instrumentation Team to design instruments that support structural biology research. The team has finished a transfer robot that facilitates automated handling of protein crystals with care and precision. This will help…

2023

lab-mattersscience-technology

13 February 2023 Female scientist stands in front of lab bench

Welcome: Hanh Vu

Lab Matters, People & Perspectives Group Leader Hanh Vu studies ‘immortal’ flatworms that can grow and de-grow to understand better factors that determine organisms’ sizes.

2023

lab-matterspeople-perspectives

7 February 2023 BII and EMBL logos are on a white band set against a wavy green background

Promoting European innovation in the life sciences

Connections, Lab Matters One of EMBL’s core missions is the development and transfer of scientific know-how and technologies to academia, industry, and commercial entities to facilitate further research, innovations, and commercialisation for the benefit of society at large. Working across Europe, EMBL has partnerships…

2023

connectionslab-matters

12 December 2022 A mother and her child looking through a microscope

Celebrating science in Grenoble

Connections, Lab Matters In October 2022, EMBL Grenoble participated in the annual science outreach event Parvis des Sciences, organised by the GIANT campus under the umbrella of the French science week – La Fête de la science.

2022

connectionslab-matters

29 September 2022 young girl in lab coat

Tools for teachers

Lab Matters EMBL reminds teachers of freely available educational resources and workshops just in time for school.

2022

lab-matters

20 September 2022 8 representatives of both the Dieter Schwarz Foundation and EMBL are standing in the EMBL Imaging Centre foyer facing the camera

Life Science Alliance starts new chapter

Connections, Lab Matters Dieter Schwarz Foundation renews 3-year funding to EMBL for the EMBL | Stanford Life Science Alliance, a unique international collaboration bringing together researchers from the two leading institutions to develop transformative technologies and accelerate biomedical research.

2022

connectionslab-matters

9 September 2022 A female career advisor at computer participates in webinar

Insights into scientific careers

Events, Lab Matters As the career landscape continues to change for PhDs and postdocs, the EMBL Fellows’ Career Service offers webinars that present professional options in and beyond academia.

2022

eventslab-matters

7 September 2022 Female scientist stands in laboratory setting

Augmenting science

Lab Matters The Scientific Visitor Programme shares EMBL tools and talent with outside researchers in collaborative, multidisciplinary environments.

2022

lab-matters

7 June 2022 Female scientist photographed in a garden

Welcome: Pascale Cossart

Lab Matters, People & Perspectives Pascale Cossart, one of the world’s foremost authorities on the biology of Listeria, brings four decades of expertise in intracellular bacterial parasitism to EMBL as a visiting scientist.

2022

lab-matterspeople-perspectives

18 May 2022 The visiting group from the Business Academy Aarhus during lunch at the EMBL Hamburg’s terrace

EMBL Hamburg is helping train lab techs of the future

Lab Matters Students from the Business Academy Aarhus visit EMBL Hamburg annually. Many of them return later as trainees to gain experience as lab technicians. EMBL Hamburg offers great opportunities to learn diverse techniques and work with various equipment. This experience helps them in their future jobs in…

2022

lab-matters

27 April 2022 Portrait of Kristina Djinović-Carugo

Next Head of EMBL Grenoble appointed

EMBL Announcements, Lab Matters Professor Kristina Djinović-Carugo has been appointed as the next head of EMBL Grenoble. She will join EMBL in July from the Max Perutz Laboratories at the University of Vienna, where she is currently Head of the Department of Structural and Computational Biology and full Professor of Structural…

2022

embl-announcementslab-matters

17 March 2022 EMBL statement visual

EMBL’s statement on the invasion of Ukraine

EMBL Announcements, Lab Matters EMBL condemns in the strongest terms the unjustified military invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, with the support of Belarus, and the resulting loss of life and human suffering. We express our deepest sympathy to the Ukrainian people and to all the victims of this war.  As an…

2022

embl-announcementslab-matters

23 February 2022 A photo of the campus of the Aarhus University buildings and green lawn.

Molecular medicine across borders

Connections, Lab Matters The 11th annual Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine meeting was hosted in virtual format by DANDRITE, the Danish node of the Partnership, from 31 January–2 February 2022. The programme included updates from all partnership nodes, discussions about opportunities for new collaborations,…

2022

connectionslab-matters

3 January 2022 Mixture of life science symbols inside a circle set against background of green and blue

The start of a journey

Lab Matters, People & Perspectives This year marks the beginning of EMBL’s next programme ‘Molecules to Ecosystems’ to advance the understanding of life across scales and in the context of changing environments.

2022

lab-matterspeople-perspectives

22 December 2021 Scientific illustrations of MEG3, a very large RNA involved in cell proliferation. IAB and EMBL logos are located in the center of the illustration.

EMBL-IAB collaboration on the rise

Connections, Lab Matters The memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between EMBL and the Institute for Advanced Biosciences (IAB) a year ago has already catalysed new grants for joint research projects related to cancer and infection biology, thereby deepening collaborative activities.

2021

connectionslab-matters

20 December 2021 Concentric circles and lines in different colours, representing fingerprints. Text: "Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Strategy."

Fostering diversity and equality

Lab Matters Showing a continued commitment to providing a diverse and inclusive organisation for conducting leading molecular biology research, EMBL has launched an Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) strategy.

2021

lab-matters

29 November 2021 Male scientist in front of blurred woodland background

Welcome: Niccolò Banterle

Lab Matters, People & Perspectives Using gene editing and three types of microscopy, one of EMBL’s newest group leaders is deciphering the functions of one of the smallest molecules involved in cell division, motility, and signalling, known as a centriole.

2021

lab-matterspeople-perspectives

25 November 2021 Female scientist in front of a background of green plants

Welcome: Maria Zimmermann-Kogadeeva

Lab Matters, People & Perspectives Maria Zimmermann-Kogadeeva is one of EMBL’s newest group leaders and a computational biologist whose research group applies computational modelling to better understand the metabolism of gut bacteria and their potential to have far-reaching impacts on other organs.

2021

lab-matterspeople-perspectives

9 November 2021 students looking a computer monitor and microscope

New horizons for the EIPP

Lab Matters EMBL's PhD and postdoc programmes evolve to the more multidisciplinary way of doing great molecular biology research.

2021

lab-matters

28 October 2021 female scientist sits in front of building

Welcome: Svetlana Dodonova

Lab Matters, People & Perspectives Svetlana Dodonova is one of EMBL's newest group leaders, leading a team of researchers who will study how genetic material is organised inside cells using structural biology approaches.

2021

lab-matterspeople-perspectives

4 October 2021 Logos of University of Tartu and EMBL with text: “memorandum of understanding”. Illustrations of microorganisms in the background.

EMBL strengthens links with Estonia

Connections, Lab Matters A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between EMBL and the University of Tartu, a leading centre of research and training. The MoU aims to strengthen cooperation between EMBL and the life science research community in Estonia.

2021

connectionslab-matters

29 September 2021 Female scientist working at a biosafety cabinet, wearing a yellow protective gown and black gloves.

Transferable skills

Lab Matters, People & Perspectives In the lab, Diënty Hazenbrink works with microbes that live in our guts. In her free time, she enjoys wildlife photography. A shared set of skills facilitates both activities.

2021

lab-matterspeople-perspectives

8 June 2021 Two scientists in lab coats working on an instrument in the lab.

EMBL external research community survey

Lab Matters EMBL is conducting an Impact Assessment of our experimental services to understand the value these services have for our external user community. If you have accessed EMBL experimental services at one or more of our facilities to support the conduct of your research, we would like to hear from you.

2021

lab-matters

28 April 2021 Artistic representation of brain and DNA

Uniting strengths to expand research

Connections, Lab Matters The European Molecular Biology Laboratory and the Italian Institute of Technology have signed an agreement to expand the scope of their collaboration to include areas of mutual interest and in the context of EMBL’s 2022-2026 Programme “Molecules to Ecosystems”.

2021

connectionslab-matters

13 April 2021 EMBL Heidelberg's main building, the top of the façade lit up by sunlight.

Morning sun

Lab Matters, Picture of the week Throwback to June 2014: While EMBL Heidelberg’s main entrance is still in the dark, the well-known EMBL logo is already lit by the morning sun.

2021

lab-matterspicture-of-the-week

26 February 2021 Woman with long brown hair stands in front of snow scene with arms crossed in front of her.

Welcome: Sinem Saka

Lab Matters, People & Perspectives As one of EMBL’s newest group leaders, Sinem Saka will combine multiple technologies, such as microscopy and single-cell omics, to solve biological puzzles.

2021

lab-matterspeople-perspectives

22 February 2021 A scientist (only their hand is visible) inserting a 96-well plate into a sample dispensing device in the Sample Preparation and Characterisation Facility in Hamburg.

SPC Facility in Hamburg supports a new pan-European consortium

Connections, Lab Matters The Sample Preparation and Characterisation (SPC) Facility at EMBL Hamburg is one of the founding members of the Molecular-Scale Biophysics Research Infrastructure (MOSBRI). Within this new European initiative, the SPC Facility will offer services related to membrane proteins, protein complexes,…

2021

connectionslab-matters

11 February 2021 Maria-Theresa Licka holding a smartphone displaying an app she developed. Vineyards, houses and hills in the background.

Coding between the vines

Lab Matters EMBL Teen Maria-Theresa Licka shares how female scientists guided & inspired her to develop an app to ID vine disease.

2021

lab-matters

29 January 2021 Flags of EMBL, Italy and CNR

Strengthening collaborations in Italy

Connections, Lab Matters EMBL and CNR have signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen scientific cooperation. The agreement will foster collaborative projects and integrate them within the European and global scientific landscape.

2021

connectionslab-matters

15 January 2021 young man with beard and mustache stands in front of window with blurry background

Welcome: Olivier Duss

Lab Matters, People & Perspectives One of EMBL’s newest group leaders, Olivier Duss, will explore how RNA folds into functional structures and how it works with proteins to control a diverse range of activities in the cell.

2021

lab-matterspeople-perspectives

8 December 2020 Windowed façade reflecting leafless trees.

Clear views

Lab Matters, Picture of the week With the external scaffolding removed, another step in the construction of the EMBL Imaging Centre is complete. Now we get a first glimpse of the final look of this stunning building.

2020

lab-matterspicture-of-the-week

20 November 2020 The Reichstag building (left) and Paul-Löbe-Haus (right) in Berlin, as seen in daylight from across the Spree river.

Sharing our vision for the future

Connections, Lab Matters EMBL Director General Edith Heard introduced EMBL’s future plans during a parliamentary event at the Paul-Löbe-Haus of the German Bundestag in Berlin. She shared examples of EMBL’s research and outlined how EMBL’s activities will develop.

2020

connectionslab-matters

17 November 2020 Car parking rooftop with a solar power plant under construction on it.

Solar power

Lab Matters, Picture of the week Despite the cold autumn weather, workers are busy on the rooftop of the parking garage at EMBL Heidelberg. The 2176 m² rooftop is getting transformed into a combination of a green roof and a photovoltaic plant. The planted green roof will retain rainwater, while the solar panels – installed in…

2020

lab-matterspicture-of-the-week

15 October 2020 Dr. Maria Arruda looks towards the camera with a serious but kind expression

Respecting diversity: the role of the scientist

Events, Lab Matters Maria Arruda is on a mission to make scientists think more about the role they play in society. After a career in academia and the life sciences, she is trying to help others see the bigger picture when it comes to the responsibility of the scientist.

2020

eventslab-matters

8 October 2020 Alvaro Crevenna, heads EMBL Rome’s Microscopy Facility. Credit: EMBL

Beyond the lens – microscopy at EMBL Rome

Lab Matters, Science & Technology Research facilities play a crucial role in the advancement of science by supporting scientists with specialised expertise and state-of-the-art equipment. The Microscopy Facility at EMBL Rome exemplifies this role by making a wide variety of light microscopy technologies available to its researchers…

2020

lab-mattersscience-technology

5 October 2020 EMBL and Vilnius University logos on a background of genomic data

New partnership in Lithuania

Connections, Lab Matters On 8 September, EMBL and Vilnius University Life Sciences Center signed a framework agreement for the establishment of the VU LSC–EMBL Partnership for Genome Editing Technologies.

2020

connectionslab-matters

17 September 2020 Colorful illustration conveys the balancing act women in science face, going between family and work responsibilities and wanting to succeed in both roles.

Indirect impacts of a pandemic on women in science

Events, Lab Matters The EMBL conference that explored direct and indirect impacts from the current pandemic on women in science allowed for information and story sharing both in the form of lectures but also via online platforms like Slack and social media that included Twitter.

2020

eventslab-matters

10 September 2020 Two researchers at EMBL's state-of-the-art Electron Microscopy Core Facility (EMCF). A female scientist is using a binocular microscope, a male scientist is standing next to her.

Level up!

Lab Matters ARISE fellowships to offer first-ever comprehensive training for bioscience infrastructure operations

2020

lab-matters

7 September 2020 science diplomacy

Looking forward

Connections, Lab Matters Two EMBL speakers gave presentations that looked toward the future and at ways to trailblaze on the endless frontier of science.

2020

connectionslab-matters

25 August 2020

Training the next generation of molecular biologists

EMBL Announcements, Lab Matters The EMBL International PhD Programme is one of EMBL’s flagship training programmes. It forms part of our efforts to train and inspire talented scientists to become skilled and creative future leaders. Submission of applications for the current PhD student recruitment round is now possible.

2020

embl-announcementslab-matters

20 August 2020 A portrait photo of Geetika Malhotra, new Head of Web Development at EMBL-EBI.

Welcome: Geetika Malhotra

Lab Matters, People & Perspectives The Web Development team provides a central source of web design and development for EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI). In July, Geetika Malhotra joined the team as their new Head.

2020

lab-matterspeople-perspectives

16 July 2020 A collage of portrait photos of Jessica Vamathevan, Jan Korbel, and Nassos Typas.

Changes in senior roles at EMBL

EMBL Announcements, Lab Matters Three changes in senior staff positions have been confirmed at EMBL today. Jessica Vamathevan becomes Head of Strategy, Jan Korbel becomes Head of Data Science for EMBL Heidelberg, and Nassos Typas becomes Senior Scientist.

2020

embl-announcementslab-matters

13 July 2020 scientists teaching about the microbiome

Applications for virtual learning lab open

Lab Matters The European Learning Laboratory for the Life Sciences (ELLS), EMBL’s education facility, invites secondary school science teachers to participate in a virtual training course this autumn entitled ‘Introducing your microbiome’.

2020

lab-matters

8 July 2020 Alexander Aulehla on the left and Paul Flicek on the Right

Two EMBL scientists become EMBO Members

EMBL Announcements, Lab Matters This year, EMBO elected 63 new members, including Alexander Aulehla, Group Leader and Senior Scientist at EMBL Heidelberg, and Paul Flicek, Associate Director of EMBL-EBI Services, Senior Scientist, Group and Team Leader at EMBL-EBI.

2020

embl-announcementslab-matters

8 July 2020 The Logo of the ALPX company.

ALPX – smart crystallography

Lab Matters The CrystalDirect® technology, combined with the web-based CRIMS software enable a fully automated, remote-controlled protein-to-structure pipeline.

2020

lab-matters

7 July 2020 The rainbow pride flag hanging in front of the Advanced Training Centre at EMBL Heidelberg. Picture taken in summer 2020.

Pride at EMBL

Lab Matters, Picture of the week EMBL brings together more than 1700 people from all over the world, from a variety of academic and cultural backgrounds. This creates an environment in which there is constant exchange of both scientific knowledge and cultural heritage. While it seems obvious that EMBL, as an international…

2020

lab-matterspicture-of-the-week

6 July 2020 EMBL Director General Edith Heard standing at a laboratory work bench, facing the camera. Edith Heard on the left side, lab bench with pipettes and equipment on the right. Photo taken by érôme Brébion at Institut Curie, Paris.

Edith Heard elected senator of the Max Planck Society

EMBL Announcements, Lab Matters EMBL Director General Edith Heard has been elected a senator of the Max Planck Society, one of Germany’s leading scientific research organisations. She joins the Senate along with Nobel Laureates and EMBL alumni Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard and Stefan W. Hell, as well as nine additional new…

2020

embl-announcementslab-matters

23 June 2020 EMBL's Equality and Diversity Officers. Zac O'Sullivan (left) and Luisa Vieites Rodrigues (right)

Equality and diversity at EMBL

Lab Matters EMBL is striving to make its labs and offices a welcoming and inclusive environment for all. To achieve this goal, EMBL's Equality and Diversity Officers, Luisa Vieites Rodrigues and Zac O'Sullivan, are working closely with leadership and the EMBL community. In this interview, they share their…

2020

lab-matters

15 June 2020 Arise logo

Life sciences open their doors for engineers

Lab Matters The European Molecular Biology Laboratory has secured 6.8 million Euros funding from the European Commission to launch a unique training programme. The ARISE Programme will train and develop Europe’s next generation leadership for research infrastructures in the life sciences.

2020

lab-matters

19 May 2020 EMBL group leader Georgia Rapti

Welcome: Georgia Rapti

Lab Matters, People & Perspectives The nervous system has fascinated Georgia Rapti ever since her first introduction to biology. Her research group in the Developmental Biology unit will focus on understanding the early biological events involved in the nervous system’s formation.

2020

lab-matterspeople-perspectives

23 April 2020 Key visual for the EMBO | EMBL symposium ‘The Four-Dimensional Genome’

EMBL hosts its first virtual conference

Events, Lab Matters The virtual EMBO | EMBL symposium ‘The Four-Dimensional Genome’ brought together 470 participants. Here, Jürgen Deka, Head of External Scientific Training, discusses how he and his team overcame the organisational challenges.

2020

eventslab-matters

22 April 2020 Portrait photo of Brendan Rouse, EMBL's Environmental Officer

Welcome: Brendan Rouse

Lab Matters, People & Perspectives Brendan Rouse came to Heidelberg in March as EMBL’s Environmental Officer, tasked with monitoring the organisation’s environmental impact and promoting sustainable practices. Here, he discusses his plans for the new role.

2020

lab-matterspeople-perspectives

31 March 2020 Portrait of Bastian Drees, Head of Library

Welcome: Bastian Drees

Lab Matters, People & Perspectives Bastian Drees is a biophysicist turned librarian, who joined EMBL in January as the new Head of Library. Here, he discusses the changing role of libraries and how they can help scientists organise and share their results.

2020

lab-matterspeople-perspectives

31 January 2020

Statement on Brexit

EMBL Announcements, Lab Matters Today marks the next chapter in the UK’s relationship with Europe. While we wait to see what a future relationship brings, researchers will continue to work across borders to tackle society’s most pressing problems, such as climate change, ageing, and disease.

2020

embl-announcementslab-matters

13 December 2019

Graduation Ceremony 2019

Lab Matters Forty-seven PhD students from all of EMBL’s six sites were celebrated during EMBL’s 2019 Graduation Ceremony on Friday 13 December

2019

lab-matters

15 October 2019

Bringing life science to you

Lab Matters, Picture of the week EMBL not only produces excellent science and innovative technologies; it also shares its knowledge and experience with partners from around the world – and with the public. As well as offering teacher training in the European Learning Laboratory for the Life Sciences, science movie nights, and…

2019

lab-matterspicture-of-the-week

17 September 2019

The end of a productive day

Lab Matters, Picture of the week It’s evening and the Sun is setting over the mountains surrounding the city of Grenoble – home to one of EMBL’s six sites – bathing the mountaintops in fiery red light. The Picture of the Week, taken by Zuzanna Kaczmarska shows the lab she worked in after a long and busy day. Bottles…

2019

lab-matterspicture-of-the-week

27 August 2019

Where science meets art

Lab Matters, Picture of the week The most basic building blocks of life are the biological molecules in our cells. While these molecules are too small to see with most microscopes, they have incredibly complex and beautiful structures. Therefore, the Protein Data Bank in Europe (PDBe), The Art Society CANTAB and The Art Society…

2019

lab-matterspicture-of-the-week

9 July 2019

Working with a view

Lab Matters, Picture of the week EMBL has six sites in Europe and the newest is EMBL Barcelona. It opened in October 2017 and is still growing. Eventually, it will be home to eight research groups, all of them working to discover how tissues and organs function and develop. EMBL Barcelona is located in the Barcelona Biomedical…

2019

lab-matterspicture-of-the-week

25 June 2019

A colourful day at EMBL-EBI

Lab Matters, Picture of the week EMBL is an intergovernmental organisation, currently supported by 26 member states, one prospect and two associate member states. There are more than 1700 people working at EMBL, who come from more than 80 countries, creating a multicultural environment. EMBL also operates from six sites in Europe:…

2019

lab-matterspicture-of-the-week

18 June 2019

A no-brainer

Lab Matters, Picture of the week Have you ever wondered what reflex testing is about? Why does your doctor tap the space below your knee with a hammer to see if your leg kicks forward? At the centre of this involuntary reaction is the muscle spindle, of which you can see a close-up in today’s Picture of the Week. Muscle spindles…

2019

lab-matterspicture-of-the-week

11 June 2019

Rainbow lab

Lab Matters, Picture of the week Laboratories all over the world are often chaotic, a bit messy and look grey and unwelcoming. Not so in this lab, pictured by EMBL staff member Emily Savage. The differently coloured fluids, arranged in a row, bring vivid colours into the more subdued environment of the lab. The picture was taken…

2019

lab-matterspicture-of-the-week

4 June 2019

Colourful yeast

Lab Matters, Picture of the week Most of us love brewer’s yeast, or at least the food that it’s helped us to produce since ancient times. Without Saccharomyces cerevisiae (its Latin name) we couldn’t enjoy wine, beer or most types of bread. Besides its role in food production, S. cerevisiae is also an important model…

2019

lab-matterspicture-of-the-week

28 May 2019

A fiery end to a productive day

Lab Matters, Picture of the week EMBL’s sites provide spectacular views, such as this fiery sunset at the Wellcome Genome Campus in Hinxton. The campus, in the heart of the Cambridgeshire countryside, is home to several institutes and organisations working on genomics and computational biology. Among them is EMBL’s European…

2019

lab-matterspicture-of-the-week

7 May 2019

EMBL sees it all

Lab Matters, Picture of the week The hexagons visible in this Picture of the Week are the eyes of an ordinary housefly, visualised with a scanning electron microscope. Former staff member Anna Steyer, who captured this brilliant image, has coloured seven of the receptor areas of the eye to create a stylised version…

2019

lab-matterspicture-of-the-week

22 March 2018

LifeTime – a visionary proposal for an EU Flagship

Connections, Lab Matters Following the completion of the Human Genome Project  in 2001, scientists and the media described the genome as “the book of life”, holding the answers to the way genes are linked to disease. Yet, seventeen years later, we are still deciphering how cells interpret this book. Since…

2018

connectionslab-matters

6 July 2017

CSSB opens its doors

Connections, Lab Matters On 29 June, at a ceremony in front of 700 guests, the Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB) in Hamburg, was officially opened. At the event on the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) Campus in Hamburg, Helmut Dosch, Chairman of the DESY Board of Directors, presented Head of EMBL Hamburg…

2017

connectionslab-matters

19 December 2016 The 2016 intake of EMBL PhD students

First year PhDs complete their training

Lab Matters For the past two months EMBL Heidelberg has hosted around 60 first year PhD students from EMBL’s International PhD Programme (EIPP). From thousands of applicants, the students were selected from over 40 countries to work on their PhD research at one of EMBL’s five sites – Grenoble, Hamburg,…

2016

lab-matters

4 August 2016 45 pupils from Saarland, Germany visit EMBL-EBI

Just try!

Lab Matters German students visit EMBL-EBI on a tour to explore a new culture and different career paths

2016

lab-matters

21 April 2016 Anne Ephrussi wears the medal of the Order of Légion d’Honneur, the highest distinction in France. PHOTO: EMBL Photolab/Marietta Schupp

Awards & Honours

Lab Matters EMBL scientists regularly receive prestigious awards – meet the latest honourees.

2016

lab-matters

30 November 2015 on course - the comprehensive catalogue for biomedical training in Europe

Toolkit for trainers

Lab Matters The new Toolkit for Trainers, an online resource hosted at EMBL-EBI, helps biomedical science trainers create and explore new ways of teaching.

2015

lab-matters

25 November 2015

Humans of EMBL

Lab Matters Compelling short stories that shine light on the life and work of EMBL staff.

2015

lab-matters

24 November 2015

Awards & Honours

Lab Matters EMBL scientists regularly receive prestigious awards – meet the latest honourees.

2015

lab-matters

14 October 2015

Lighting the way

Lab Matters A microscopy technique is poised to shine new light on biological questions: as sheets of light can scan everything from developing embryos to single cells or functioning brains, a technique called light-sheet microscopy is gaining traction. It enables scientists to observe living cells in three…

2015

lab-matters

5 October 2015

Nobel connections

Lab Matters Amidst the excitement of Nobel Week, behind the scenes of the annual Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings.

2015

lab-matters

25 August 2015 Maja Köhn. PHOTO: EMBL Photolab/Marietta Schupp

Chemical bonds

Lab Matters Maja Köhn’s lab is ideal to learn what life is like working at the interface of disciplines.

2015

lab-matters

24 August 2015 Janet Thornton. Photo: Robert Slowley

Transitions

Lab Matters Janet Thornton reflects on her time as Director of one of Europe’s fastest growing research institutes.

2015

lab-matters

24 August 2015

Awards & Honours

Lab Matters EMBL scientists regularly receive prestigious awards – meet the latest honourees.

2015

lab-matters

28 July 2015

Union makes success

Lab Matters Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit (MMPU) with the University of Heidelberg, renewed until 2025.

2015

lab-matters

28 July 2015

Political science

Lab Matters Alumnus Damian Brunner revisits EMBL in a very special capacity, as Swiss delegate on EMBL’s Council.

2015

lab-matters

13 July 2015

EIPOD goes cubic

Lab Matters EI3POD: flagship interdisciplinary postdoc programme opens its doors to academia and industry.

2015

lab-matters

9 July 2015 One from Many

One from Many

Lab Matters Database administrator's photo essay reflects internationality and personality of the Genome Campus.

2015

lab-matters

27 May 2015

ELIXIR accelerates

Lab Matters ELIXIR receives major Horizon 2020 funding to ‘EXCELERATE' activities over the next four years.

2015

lab-matters

26 January 2015

Awards & Honours

Lab Matters EMBL scientists regularly receive prestigious awards – meet the latest honourees.

2015

lab-matters

23 January 2015 Silvia Rohr. PHOTO: EMBL PHOTOLAB/MARIETTA SCHUPP

Let there be light

Lab Matters PhD student Silvia Rohr on studying eyes – and talking about it for a general audience.

2015

lab-matters

20 January 2015 COMPARE project

Beyond COMPARE

Lab Matters New project aims to speed up detection and response to disease outbreaks using genome technology.

2015

lab-matters

21 October 2014 Map of EMBL-EBI users

Job dispatched

Lab Matters How does EMBL-EBI run millions of jobs for its users while moving its two large data centres?

2014

lab-matters

31 July 2014 Global Alliance for Genomics and Health

New genomics API

Lab Matters New genomics API allows researchers to share anonymised genetic data seamlessly across platforms.

2014

lab-matters

1 July 2014 Vasily Sysoev

Back to school

Lab Matters School ambassadors show next generation that scientists are more ‘role model’ than ‘mad professor’

2014

lab-matters

1 July 2014

In our DNA

Lab Matters To photographer Horst Hamann, it's the people, not the science, that make EMBL unique

2014

lab-matters

1 July 2014 Illustration: Aad Goudappel, Rotterdam

Five for the future

Lab Matters Scientists from EMBL's five sites reflect on the opportunities and challenges that might lie ahead

2014

lab-matters

1 July 2014 Question mark

Q&A

Lab Matters Which scientific breakthroughs would EMBL scientists most like to see in the next 40 years?

2014

lab-matters

25 June 2014

On target

Connections, Lab Matters A new EMBL-EBI biomedical initiative works to determine the best target proteins for new drugs.

2014

connectionslab-matters

27 March 2014

Where do you start when developing a new medicine?

Connections, Lab Matters A pioneering public-private research initiative between GSK, the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is to harness the power of ‘big data’ and genome sequencing to improve the success rate for discovering new medicines. The new Centre for…

2014

connectionslab-matters

24 February 2014

Pan-European imaging infrastructure gains momentum

Connections, Lab Matters Europe is uniting to make state-of-the-art imaging technologies accessible to biomedical researchers throughout the continent in a concerted manner. The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and seven countries (Belgium, Finland, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom)…

2014

connectionslab-matters

27 March 2013

Become a member of Euro-BioImaging

Connections, Lab Matters Euro-BioImaging, the pan-European open access research infrastructure for biological and medical imaging technologies, invites leading European imaging facilities to submit proposals to participate. Applications to become a Euro-BioImaging node will be reviewed by a board of independent…

2013

connectionslab-matters

5 July 2011 Lennart Philipson, 1929-2011.

Obituary – Lennart Philipson

Lab Matters Lennart Philipson, who served as EMBL’s second Director General, has passed away. Lennart headed EMBL for over a decade between 1982-93, a crucial time for molecular biology when different scientific disciplines in the life sciences were becoming increasingly interlinked. He reorganised the…

2011

lab-matters

4 March 2011 Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, and Iain Mattaj, Director-General of EMBL, signing the Memorandum of Understanding.

European Commission and EMBL renew cooperation

Lab Matters In a Memorandum of Understanding signed today, the European Commission (EC) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) formalise their desire to maintain and further develop their cooperation. “I am delighted to sign the renewed and strengthened Memorandum of Understanding between the…

2011

lab-matters

8 November 2010 Signing the declaration of accession to the EIROforum: Massimo Altarelli, Chairman of the XFEL Management Board (left) and Francesco Romanelli, Chairman of the EIROforum (right). In the back (left to right): Francesco Sette (ESRF), Felicitas Pauss (CERN), Iain Mattaj (EMBL), Richard Wagner (ILL), Rowena Sirey (ESO) and David Southwood (ESA)

European XFEL joins EIROforum

Lab Matters At the Autumn 2010Council meeting of the EIROforum, a partnership of seven European intergovernmental research organisations with large research infrastructures, the Directors General unanimously accepted the European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser Facility (European XFEL), based in Hamburg, Germany, to…

2010

lab-matters

16 October 2008

Researchers establish international human microbiome consortium

Lab Matters Today at a meeting organised by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, scientists from around the globe announced the formation of the International Human Microbiome Consortium (IHMC), an effort that will enable researchers to characterise the relationship of the…

2008

lab-matters

23 July 2008

Open access to large-scale drug discovery data

Lab Matters The Wellcome Trust has awarded £4.7 million (€5.8 million) to EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) to support the transfer of a large collection of information on the properties and activities of drugs and a large set of drug-like small molecules from the publicly listed…

2008

lab-matters

28 May 2008

Securing the future of Europe’s biological data resources

Lab Matters In a contract signed today, the European Commission has awarded €4.5 million to a pan-European consortium to decide upon the best way to unite Europe’s biological data resources into a sustainable, integrative bioinformatics network for the life sciences. The European Life-science…

2008

lab-matters

22 January 2008

International consortium announces the 1000 Genomes Project

Lab Matters Drawing on the expertise of multi-disciplinary research teams, the map developed by the 1000 Genomes Project will provide a view of biomedically relevant DNA variations at a resolution unmatched by current resources. The European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI), working with long-term collaborator…

2008

lab-matters

11 December 2007

ArrayExpress database doubles in size to 100,000 hybridisations

Lab Matters ArrayExpress, the publicly available database of transcriptomics data at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), has doubled in size in 2007, reaching the 100,000-hybridisation milestone. The database now holds snapshots of gene expression…

2007

lab-matters

12 November 2007

Luxembourg joins EMBL

Lab Matters Today, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) announces Luxembourg as the new member of its international community. Accepted by EMBL’s council and ratified by the parliament of Luxembourg, the Grand-Duchy has officially joined the institute as the 20th member state. “EMBL is…

2007

lab-matters

23 October 2007

The East Wing and a new dawn for the EMBL-EBI

Lab Matters The European Molecular Biology Laboratory’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) officially opens its new East Wing today with a reception for prominent guests. The East Wing will be jointly opened by Ian Pearson, Minister of State for Science and Innovation, UK, and Robert-Jan Smits,…

2007

lab-matters

3 October 2007

EMBL reaches north

Lab Matters Today the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the University of Helsinki, Finland, the University of Oslo, Norway, and Umeå University, Sweden, officially launch their new Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine. The agreement will encourage scientific exchange and collaborations…

2007

lab-matters

28 August 2007

Minimum Information Standards ─ all for one and one for all

Lab Matters Three papers published by EMBL scientists and their collaborators will make it much easier to share and compare information from large-scale proteomics data. The papers are published in Nature Biotechnology on 8 and 26 August. As the quantity of available biological information and the use of…

2007

lab-matters

11 July 2007

EMBL expands to Australia

Lab Matters Today, delegates representing the 19 member states of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) offered Australia associate membership in EMBL’s international community. The membership is planned to start officially in January 2008 and will initially last for seven years. “EMBL…

2007

lab-matters

22 May 2007

The first public nucleotide sequence database turns 25

Lab Matters It was the world’s earliest public database of DNA and RNA sequences and remains Europe’s primary nucleotide sequence resource. The database is maintained by EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute in Hinxton (UK) in collaboration with its US and Japanese counterparts GenBank and…

2007

lab-matters

8 January 2007

UK PubMed Central launched

Lab Matters From today scientists will be able to access a vast collection of biomedical research and to submit their own published results for inclusion in a new online resource. Based on a model currently used by the US National Institute of Health, UK PubMed Central (UKPMC) will provide free access to a…

2007

lab-matters

14 December 2006

Magna Carta for Researchers

Lab Matters Today, Janez Potočnik, European Commissioner for Science and Research, received a statement of support for the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers from EIROforum. “The EIROforum partners warmly welcome this valuable initiative by…

2006

lab-matters

11 December 2006

Better, faster, easier

Lab Matters Today the European Molecular Biology Laboratory’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) launches its new, faster and easier website with an exhaustive search engine at its centre. The web interface has been streamlined on the basis of user feedback from a recent extensive…

2006

lab-matters

27 November 2006

CiteXplore

Lab Matters Today the European Molecular Biology Laboratory’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) launches CiteXplore, a new freely accessible literature resource service. Biological researchers require two crucial sources of information: scientific literature published in peerreviewed…

2006

lab-matters

6 October 2006

Giving European science a headstart through training

Lab Matters Today, the German Minister for Education and Research, Annette Schavan, breaks ground for the new training and conference centre for the life sciences that will be built on the EMBL campus in Heidelberg. The German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), the Klaus Tschira…

2006

lab-matters

7 September 2006

New EMBL/CRG Research Unit for Systems Biology launched today

Lab Matters Today the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) and the Spanish Ministry for Education and Science (MEC) officially launch their new joint EMBL/CRG Research Unit in Systems Biology on the campus of the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park. The Spanish…

2006

lab-matters

9 August 2006

EMBL scientists found start-up company to develop anti-cancer drugs

Lab Matters Today EMBL scientists, EMBL’s commercial affiliate, EMBL Enterprise Management Technology Transfer GmbH (EMBLEM) and EMBL’s venture vehicle, EMBL Ventures GmbH, announce the foundation of Elara Pharmaceuticals GmbH, a start-up company that will translate basic research findings into new…

2006

lab-matters

31 July 2006

EMBL-EBI and collaborators win bid to run UK PubMed Central

Lab Matters Scientists will be able to access a vast collection of biomedical research at the touch of a button thanks to a major new initiative that aims to promote the free transfer of ideas in a bid to speed up scientific discovery. Based on a model currently used in the United States, UK PubMed Central…

2006

lab-matters

11 July 2006

Mapping the protein world

Lab Matters In the early days of X-ray crystallography obtaining a three-dimensional model of a protein required wire models, screws, bolts and years of tedious calculations by hand. Today macromolecular models are built by computers – thanks to sophisticated software and in particular a package called…

2006

lab-matters

29 June 2006

Croatia becomes EMBL’s 19th Member State

Lab Matters Croatia has officially joined the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) as the organisation’s 19th Member State. The Croatian parliament ratified its membership after EMBL’s council had accepted the country’s application. “Joining EMBL is a very important step…

2006

lab-matters

10 April 2006

Getting to the heart of cardiovascular diseases

Lab Matters Today three research organisations announce the merging of their expertise to fight cardiovascular diseases, which are among the most common health problems and causes of death in the world. The Magdi Yacoub Institute (MYI) at the UK’s Harefield Heart Science Centre, Imperial College London,…

2006

lab-matters

28 March 2006

Bringing science out of the lab into the classroom

Lab Matters Science is moving more rapidly than ever; one groundbreaking discovery chases the next at an incredible speed. School teachers have trouble keeping up with the pace, and many pupils call science classes “boring”. Today, Europe’s major research organisations launch Science in…

2006

lab-matters

6 December 2005

Setting the standard for computer models of life

Lab Matters In the December 6 issue of Nature Biotechnology, scientists from 14 different organizations around the world, including the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute, propose a new quality standard for biochemical models. MIRIAM [for Minimum information requested in the annotation of biochemical…

2005

lab-matters

31 October 2005

ENFIN! Computational systems biology comes to a lab bench near you

Lab Matters The Commission of the European Union has awarded EUR 9 million over five years for a new Network of Excellence that will make computational systems biology accessible to bench scientists throughout Europe and beyond. ENFIN, which stands for ‘Experimental Network for Functional…

2005

lab-matters

29 August 2005

EBI and Ghent University launch PRIDE

Lab Matters The European Bioinformatics Institute and Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) – Ghent University have launched the PRoteomics IDEntifications database (PRIDE). PRIDE allows researchers who work in the field of proteomics – the large-scale study of proteins – to…

2005

lab-matters

22 August 2005

Public collections of DNA and RNA sequence reach 100 gigabases

Lab Matters The world’s three leading public repositories for DNA and RNA sequence information have reached 100 gigabases (100,000,000,000 bases; the ‘letters’ of the genetic code) of sequence. Thanks to their data exchange policy, which has paved the way for the global exchange of many types…

2005

lab-matters

18 July 2005

Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit initiates second phase

Lab Matters The first rate research from the Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit (MMPU) is now set to continue for the long-term. The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the Medical Faculty of University of Heidelberg, who formed the joint venture in 2002, have announced their plans to initiate a…

2005

lab-matters

12 July 2005

Hunt for human genes involved in cell division under way

Lab Matters A systematic search through human genes has begun at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany. Working within the MitoCheck consortium that includes 10 other institutes throughout Europe, the EMBL scientists will silence all human genes, one-by-one, to find those…

2005

lab-matters

1 May 2005

EMBL’s fourth Director-General, Dr Iain Mattaj, takes office

Lab Matters Dr. Iain Mattaj today took over the leadership of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory [EMBL], a prominent basic research and training institute with laboratories in France, Germany, Italy and the UK. “The pace of progress in the life sciences is remarkable. I see my job as ensuring that…

2005

lab-matters

31 March 2005

The transparent organism

Lab Matters A novel high-tech microscope will be brought to the marketplace, giving laboratories everywhere fascinating new insights into living organisms. EMBLEM Technology Transfer GmbH (EMBLEM), the commercial entity of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), announced today that it has signed a…

2005

lab-matters

28 February 2005

Double recognition of EBI scientists by the ISCB

Lab Matters The International Society for Computational Biology has named two scientists from the European Bioinformatics Institute as the winners of its awards for 2005. Janet Thornton wins the Senior Scientist Accomplishment Award while the Overton Prize goes to Ewan Birney. Thomas Lengauer, the ISCB’s…

2005

lab-matters

1 February 2005

European bioinformatics grid receives 8 million Euro

Lab Matters The Commission of the European Union has awarded 8.3 million Euro to a pan-European task force who will improve access to biological information for scientists throughout and beyond Europe. The EMBRACE Network of Excellence, which encompasses computational biologists from 17 institutes in 11…

2005

lab-matters

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