EMBL alumni in Spain and Portugal met for the fourth year running on 28 November at the Spanish National Cancer Research Institute (CNIO) in Madrid. The programme, which was organised by host Guillermo Montoya, included scientific talks by Ignacio Dolado, Robert Kypta and Fatima Gebauer, and an update on EMBL news from Christian Boulin.

The EMBL Spanish Council delegate Cristina Espa, Deputy Head of the International Organisations and Programmes at the Ministry of Science and Innovation’s, outlined Spain’s participation in EMBL, EMBC and EMBO activities. Her talk led to a lively discussion on how Spanish scientists can take advantage of the programmes offered by these organisations, and gave participants the opportunity to provide feedback on recruitment and funding issues in the life sciences.

Finally, Sarah Sherwood and Maria del Mar Vivanco presented the tools available to the alumni network, including the new wiki web resource for those leaving EMBL.