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Sparking the next 50 years of collaborative discovery
EMBL's 50th anniversary symposium brought together its vibrant community, showcased its many scientific contributions, and drove discussions on the future of Europe's leading life sciences laboratory.
On 4–5 July, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) celebrated the 50th anniversary of its founding with a scientific symposium attended by over 1,000 staff, alumni, collaborators, funders, and other well-wishers, participating on-site and virtually.
Through a series of scientific sessions featuring current and former EMBL group leaders and former EMBL fellows, ‘From atoms to ecosystems – a new era in life sciences’ showcased EMBL’s many scientific contributions and presented a glimpse of the future of EMBL’s research.
One theme that emerged during the two-day session was the impact EMBL’s culture of openness, collaboration, and innovation has had on the scientific journeys of its staff and alumni and the high hopes they have regarding EMBL’s continuing leadership in the life sciences in Europe.
The video below collects a few voices, including from past and present EMBL staff, as well as the EMBL Council delegate from the newest prospect member state Bulgaria, about the way EMBL has shaped their careers, or their thoughts regarding the future of EMBL.
In addition, many partners, and alumni, and reached out with their wishes to EMBL on its birthday. Here is a small selection:
“Happy Birthday, EMBL! I am still a proud member of the wonderful EMBL family, that very, very special institute that connects people across Europe and the world with exciting memories. Cheers to the next 50 years!”
— Tweet from Ulrich Elling, Predoctoral Fellow EIPP, 2001-2006, now Principal Investigator, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Vienna
“On EMBL’s anniversary, and with EMBL being its people, I wish everyone ingenuity and brilliance to overcome any challenges, and introspective opportunities such as this one to collectively reflect upon and celebrate our achievements and successes.”
— Renato Alves, Senior Bioinformatics Community Manager, Data Science Centre
“Warm congratulations to Prof. Edith Heard and the teams and partners of @embl, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, for their extraordinary work and commitment which have made the European Molecular Biology Laboratory a leader in 🇪🇺 and the world in this crucial field.”
– Tweet from François Delattre, France’s Ambassador to Germany
“EMBL is the best example for how science should be done: international, well-equipped, with the goal of gaining deep understanding of fundamental mechanisms of biology, eventually offering solutions for diseases and preservation of our environment.”
— Hüseyin Besir, Head, EMBL Protein Expression and Purification Core Facility, 2006-2015, now Head of R&D, Biomex GmbH, Heidelberg
“I wish EMBL and all its staff, past and present, a very happy birthday! Those who founded EMBL were truly visionary, when one considers the multitude of achievements and success stories from the past 50 years. Today, I have the privilege of leading this great organisation, in an era where the world needs science more than ever before.”
— Edith Heard, Director General, EMBL
You can read more such birthday wishes on our website, and learn more about EMBL’s past and future in this special anniversary publication.
