www.embl.org

The European Molecular Biology Laboratory is Europe's intergovernmental laboratory for the molecular life sciences. It was founded in 1974. Today it is funded by public research monies from 20 member states, encompassing virtually all of Western Europe and Israel.

EMBL has five missions: to conduct basic research covering the entire spectrum of molecular biology from molecules to organisms, to provide essential services to scientists in its member states, to provide high-level training to its staff, students, and visitors, to develop new technologies and instrumentation for biological research, and to engage in technology transfer to the benefit of the citizens of its member states.

More than 1400 staff from over 60 nations currently work at EMBL's five sites: the main Laboratory in Heidelberg (Germany), the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) in Hinxton (UK) and Outstations in Hamburg (Germany), Grenoble (France) and Monterotondo (Italy). All of the sites have active Visitors Programmes, which bring in collaborators, visiting scientists, and participants in courses and workshops.

Among the most important services EMBL provides are the provision and maintenance of biological databases at EMBL-EBI and the operation of beamlines for structural biology at the Hamburg and Grenoble Outstations.

EMBL is a world-renowned international centre for advanced training and runs an international PhD programme for 180 students. More than 3700 alumni form a network of connections throughout Europe and the world.

The Laboratory is very active in the areas of science and society, outreach activities and the public understanding of science. One of the immediate benefits of the EIROforum collaboration has been to help EMBL to become more actively involved in the area of education; EMBL now offers practical laboratories for secondary school teachers and public education training for scientists.