{"id":1256,"date":"2014-07-31T18:25:44","date_gmt":"2014-07-31T16:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.embl.de\/?p=1256"},"modified":"2024-11-14T16:22:51","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T15:22:51","slug":"40years_reunion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating 40 years of leading life science"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A warm (30C &amp; blue skies) welcome to all at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/EMBL40?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#EMBL40<\/a> reunion! Great to celebrate with those who made &amp; make Europe\u2019s flagship <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/lifesci?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#lifesci<\/a> lab.<\/p>&mdash; EMBL (@embl) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/embl\/status\/490029471010148352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 2014<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Unconventional wisdom<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>EMBL Director General Iain Mattaj opened by revealing a little-known fact about the Lab: its initial efforts to attract senior scientists after its founding in 1974 floundered. As a back-up plan, the founders set their sights on recruiting young scientists just starting their careers. That focus on training has remained a core mission, and given rise to EMBL\u2019s unique \u2018family\u2019 spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ian Mattaj: EMBL was originally meant to recruit established researchers. That failed. Fortunately, I would say <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/EMBL40?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#EMBL40<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Pavel Tomancak (@PavelTomancak) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PavelTomancak\/status\/490033825050009600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 2014<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I am always surprised just how many leading scientists have passed through @EMBLorg at some point<\/p>&mdash; Ewan Birney (@ewanbirney) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ewanbirney\/status\/490006827916996609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 2014<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a title=\"Giulio Superti-Furga\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cemm.oeaw.ac.at\/research\/groups\/giulio-superti-furga-group\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Giulio Superti-Furga<\/a>, Chair of the EMBL Alumni Association, declared that the event was not going to be a traditional conference: \u201cYou\u2019re going to be shouting and voting and participating!\u201d he said, thanks to the \u2018experimental\u2019 format devised to keep proceedings engaging and interactive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Is it the end of model organisms? Another vote at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/EMBL40?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#EMBL40<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Emily Perry (@EmilyGenomics) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EmilyGenomics\/status\/490130564952096768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 2014<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Friday\u2019s programme consisted of five sessions highlighting different research areas at EMBL: &#8216;ATC &amp; G&#8217; (genomics), &#8216;X Y and Z&#8217; (structure), &#8216;Ab aB&#8217; (developmental biology), &#8216;Ones and Zeroes&#8217; (bioinformatics) and &#8216;Wave &amp; Length&#8217; (cell biology). For each session, four speakers and a moderator took the audience through the past, present and future of each discipline, in a series of presentations that combined \u2018hard\u2019 scientific research with more contextual talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Denis Duboule and Nadia Rosenthal about the history of EMBL <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/EMBL40?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#EMBL40<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/FtqjwW37z9\">pic.twitter.com\/FtqjwW37z9<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Greg Slodkowicz (@greg_slodkowicz) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/greg_slodkowicz\/status\/490117363111845888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 2014<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Pavel Tomancak spanning dev bio, functional genomics, microscopy and software development &#8211; serious multidisciplinarity! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/EMBL40?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#EMBL40<\/a><\/p>&mdash; cathbrooksbank (@cathbrooksbank) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cathbrooksbank\/status\/490123895035658241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 2014<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Work and play<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A common refrain was EMBL\u2019s tradition of pushing the envelope of scientific possibility. Alumni Christiane N\u00fcsslein-Volhard and Eric Wieschaus, both of whom would later win the Nobel Prize, were \u201csearching for developmental genes [in the early 1970s], a time when many people did not even believe that genes were important for development,\u201d said alumnus <a title=\"Denis Duboule\" href=\"http:\/\/duboule-lab.epfl.ch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Denis Duboule<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re still asking the same question: how a genotype gives rise to a particular phenotype,\u201d added <a title=\" Angus Lamond\" href=\"http:\/\/www.lifesci.dundee.ac.uk\/people\/angus-lamond\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Angus Lamond<\/a>, \u201cBut now we can ask that question and others in much more exciting ways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">1st nucleotide DB in 1984 ~0.5million bases and came in a handy book! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/emblebi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@emblebi<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/EMBL40?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#EMBL40<\/a> &gt; magnetic tapes &gt; Internet <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/nKHUpasb7R\">pic.twitter.com\/nKHUpasb7R<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Tom Hancocks (@tehancocks) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tehancocks\/status\/490149564134223872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 2014<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Adding to the festive spirit, surprise slides often featured speakers in their younger days (with obligatory embarrassing hairdos). The first generation of alumni enjoyed reminiscing about their days at the Lab, while the next generation gained a glimpse into EMBL\u2019s heritage. \u201cIt was fun to see that the group leaders, who we all think of as serious scientists, used to have a lot of fun,\u201d said Valentine Svensson, a PhD student in the Teichmann group at EMBL-EBI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"fr\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/EMBL40?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#EMBL40<\/a> Kai Simons..fun and communication are essential in science!<\/p>&mdash; Claire O&#39;Donovan (@ClaireODonovan3) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ClaireODonovan3\/status\/490471402706063360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 19, 2014<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Rarely would be pleased to work late Friday night, but look back on 40 years of @EMBLorg  compulsive viewing <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/embl40?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#embl40<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/CZxxQWXpwG\">pic.twitter.com\/CZxxQWXpwG<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Adam Gristwood (@Gristwood) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Gristwood\/status\/490164278612459520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 2014<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The evening concluded with a feast of the same menu served at the 1973 signing of the accord to establish EMBL (officially ratified on 4 July 1974, when the Lab became a legal entity). A special light show, projected onto the EMBL Advanced Training Centre, rounded off the first day\u2019s festivities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;Learning from life&quot; (Oz centric view) Happy 40th birthday @EMBLorg <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/EMBL40?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#EMBL40<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/ZTp0X8WVGR\">pic.twitter.com\/ZTp0X8WVGR<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Ramialison Lab (@ramialison_lab) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ramialison_lab\/status\/490249205366415360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 2014<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Recognising excellence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The following morning, five speakers focused on technological innovation and development &#8211; a guiding principle in the founding of EMBL. A moment of silence was observed to remember Christian Boulin, Director of Core Facilities and Services, who passed away in April 2014. Highlights included innovative imaging techniques, the achievements of EMBL\u2019s synchrotron facilities at PETRA and ESRF, and bilateral initiatives between Hamburg and Grenoble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter aligncenter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/EMBL40?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#EMBL40<\/a> buying nice equipment is good, but actually need to build them to get what research needs! <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/1Rmz8CqEQH\">pic.twitter.com\/1Rmz8CqEQH<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Tom Hancocks (@tehancocks) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tehancocks\/status\/490400485669896193?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 19, 2014<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Alumni reunited with former colleagues over coffee at the lab group reunions, some of whom hadn\u2019t seen each other for over 30 years. Many toured the exhibition of fun and creative Lab Day posters, ranging from the Kinderhaus\u2019 first prize-winning giant papier-m\u00e2ch\u00e9 tiger to a high-resolution microscopy photo booth by the Ries lab. Others hoped for some molecular matchmaking in carefully orchestrated rounds of scientific speed dating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Scientific speed dating at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/embl40?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#embl40<\/a> &#8230; But my date is yet to arrive! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/feeling?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#feeling<\/a> nervous @emblorg <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/Bt8cnzXx5Y\">pic.twitter.com\/Bt8cnzXx5Y<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Adam Gristwood (@Gristwood) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Gristwood\/status\/490505518587588608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 19, 2014<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a title=\"Kai Simons\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mpi-cbg.de\/de\/research\/research-groups\/kai-simons\/group-leader.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kai Simons<\/a> presented the John Kendrew Young Scientist Award, given annually to an early-career researcher whose work exemplifies excellence in basic research and science communication. This year\u2019s winner, <a title=\"Martin Jinek\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bioc.uzh.ch\/en\/teaching\/study-overview\/lecturers\/martin-jinek\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Martin Jinek<\/a>, presented his work investigating the Cas9 system\u2019s \u201cpotential to engineer genomes virtually at will\u201d \u2013 Jinek has co-founded a biotech company, Caribou Biosciences, to further pursue its possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The family forges ahead<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Taking the stage again, Giulio Superti-Furga marveled at how quickly EMBL evolved from \u201cfringe pioneers\u201d to a robust community aware that it \u201cholds the future of humanity in its hands.\u201d Alongside its partner organisations, EMBO and EMBC, the Lab is a beacon of progress in molecular life science in Europe and beyond \u2013 he presented a symbolic torch to Head of Alumni Relations and reunion organiser Mehrnoosh Rayner, who held it aloft to thunderous applause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Patrick Cramer: &quot;Thank you, EMBL, for changing my life! I can show u a couple of slides, but really, this is what I wanted to say.&quot; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/EMBL40?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#EMBL40<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Uschi Symmons (@usymmons) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/usymmons\/status\/490082318644940800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 2014<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Celebrations concluded with a special dinner in honour of Claus Himburg, newly retired head chef of the EMBL Heidelberg canteen, after which members of the EMBL family, past and present, danced the night away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Thank you, EMBL, for changing my life&#8221; \u2013 reunion celebrates great science and great scientists<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1277,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3],"tags":[80,81,368,36,92,37,53,43,74,514],"embl_taxonomy":[],"class_list":["post-1256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-lab-matters","tag-alumni","tag-anniversary","tag-birney","tag-embl-ebi","tag-event","tag-grenoble","tag-hamburg","tag-heidelberg","tag-monterotondo","tag-rome"],"acf":{"article_intro":"<p>More than 1,000 staff and alumni from around the world came together at EMBL Heidelberg to celebrate the Lab\u2019s 40th Anniversary Reunion, 18\u201319 July 2014. A special programme combining reunion activities and the annual Lab Day celebration was co-organised by the <a title=\"EMBL Alumni Association\" href=\"http:\/\/www.embl.org\/alumni\" target=\"_blank\">Alumni Association<\/a> and Lab Day Committee, making it the largest community event in EMBL\u2019s history.<\/p>\n","related_links":[{"link_description":"View the event programme (and photo gallery, in due course)","link_url":"http:\/\/www.embl.org\/40years\/reunion"},{"link_description":"EMBL's 40th Anniversary reunion was co-organised by the Alumni Association","link_url":"http:\/\/www.embl.org\/alumni"}],"article_sources":false,"vf_locked":false,"featured":false,"color":"#007B53"},"embl_taxonomy_terms":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Celebrating 40 years of leading life science | EMBL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;Thank you, EMBL, for changing my life&quot; \u2013 reunion celebrates great science and great scientists\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Celebrating 40 years of leading life science | EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&quot;Thank you, EMBL, for changing my life&quot; \u2013 reunion celebrates great science and great scientists\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-07-31T16:25:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-14T15:22:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/1407_reunion1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"465\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lindsay Brownell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LindzBro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lindsay Brownell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lindsay Brownell\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/93b4023d898e31d430ebb837620c8786\"},\"headline\":\"Celebrating 40 years of leading life science\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-31T16:25:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-14T15:22:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/\"},\"wordCount\":776,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/1407_reunion1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"alumni\",\"anniversary\",\"birney\",\"embl-ebi\",\"event\",\"grenoble\",\"hamburg\",\"heidelberg\",\"monterotondo\",\"rome\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alumni\",\"Lab Matters\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/\",\"name\":\"Celebrating 40 years of leading life science | EMBL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/1407_reunion1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-31T16:25:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-14T15:22:51+00:00\",\"description\":\"\\\"Thank you, EMBL, for changing my life\\\" \u2013 reunion celebrates great science and great scientists\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/1407_reunion1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/1407_reunion1.jpg\",\"width\":620,\"height\":465},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory News\",\"description\":\"News from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"EMBL News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory\",\"alternateName\":\"EMBL\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":144,\"caption\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/embl\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embl_org\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/15813\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/emblmedia\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/93b4023d898e31d430ebb837620c8786\",\"name\":\"Lindsay Brownell\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/662a20dd8b58b2d277ac0cbb3e90b1579ef59dd4112b7004ec0b07dcc0a948c1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/662a20dd8b58b2d277ac0cbb3e90b1579ef59dd4112b7004ec0b07dcc0a948c1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lindsay Brownell\"},\"description\":\"Lindsay Brownell was a science writing intern on EMBL\u2019s communications team. She once climbed into an air duct at midnight while interviewing members of MIT\u2019s hacking community for radio.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/LindzBro\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/author\/lindsay-brownell\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Celebrating 40 years of leading life science | EMBL","description":"\"Thank you, EMBL, for changing my life\" \u2013 reunion celebrates great science and great scientists","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Celebrating 40 years of leading life science | EMBL","og_description":"\"Thank you, EMBL, for changing my life\" \u2013 reunion celebrates great science and great scientists","og_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/","og_site_name":"EMBL","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/","article_published_time":"2014-07-31T16:25:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-11-14T15:22:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":620,"height":465,"url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/1407_reunion1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lindsay Brownell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@LindzBro","twitter_site":"@embl","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lindsay Brownell","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/"},"author":{"name":"Lindsay Brownell","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/93b4023d898e31d430ebb837620c8786"},"headline":"Celebrating 40 years of leading life science","datePublished":"2014-07-31T16:25:44+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-14T15:22:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/"},"wordCount":776,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/1407_reunion1.jpg","keywords":["alumni","anniversary","birney","embl-ebi","event","grenoble","hamburg","heidelberg","monterotondo","rome"],"articleSection":["Alumni","Lab Matters"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/","name":"Celebrating 40 years of leading life science | EMBL","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/1407_reunion1.jpg","datePublished":"2014-07-31T16:25:44+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-14T15:22:51+00:00","description":"\"Thank you, EMBL, for changing my life\" \u2013 reunion celebrates great science and great scientists","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/40years_reunion\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/1407_reunion1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/1407_reunion1.jpg","width":620,"height":465},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/","name":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory News","description":"News from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization"},"alternateName":"EMBL News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization","name":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory","alternateName":"EMBL","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png","width":300,"height":144,"caption":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/","https:\/\/x.com\/embl","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embl_org\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/15813\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/emblmedia\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/93b4023d898e31d430ebb837620c8786","name":"Lindsay Brownell","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/662a20dd8b58b2d277ac0cbb3e90b1579ef59dd4112b7004ec0b07dcc0a948c1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/662a20dd8b58b2d277ac0cbb3e90b1579ef59dd4112b7004ec0b07dcc0a948c1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lindsay Brownell"},"description":"Lindsay Brownell was a science writing intern on EMBL\u2019s communications team. She once climbed into an air duct at midnight while interviewing members of MIT\u2019s hacking community for radio.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/LindzBro"],"url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/author\/lindsay-brownell\/"}]}},"field_target_display":"embl","field_article_language":{"value":"english","label":"English"},"fimg_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/1407_reunion1.jpg","featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/1407_reunion1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1256"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19733,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1256\/revisions\/19733"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1256"},{"taxonomy":"embl_taxonomy","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/embl_taxonomy?post=1256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}