The European Life Sciences Organisation was created to administer and organise an annual meeting regarding European Biology. Following the annual conference in Nice in 2008, ELSO fused with EMBO and therefore ceased its functions as an independent organisation.
The AIMBN was founded in 1997 with a mission to promote molecular biology and biotechnology in the Asia-Pacific region. The organisation was modelled after EMBO, and EMBO took an advisory role during the AIMBN’s early period, in particular in the screening of potential membership candidates. By 2007, they had 300 members in 16 participating ‘economies’ (so-called due to the political situations in Taipei and Taiwan), and 16 supporting institutes across the region. They held conferences and courses in participating economies.
Basel Life was an annual life sciences congress held in Basel, Switzerland, active from 2016 to 2019. Established as a continuation and expansion of the earlier MipTec conference, BASEL LIFE brought together academic researchers, clinicians, and representatives from the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. It combined scientific sessions with an industry exhibition and hosted the annual meeting of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) during its run. The event aimed to foster exchange between basic research and applied innovation in the life sciences.
The European Science Foundation was established in 1974 as an association of major national funding agencies and research organisations across Europe. Its mission was to promote high-quality science in a European context by coordinating research activities, funding collaborative programmes, and facilitating scientific networking across disciplines. Headquartered in Strasbourg, France, ESF played a significant role in shaping European research policy, supporting mobility and cooperation, and fostering new areas of scientific inquiry. From the 1980s through the early 2000s, it sponsored research programmes, exploratory workshops, and networking activities across the humanities, social sciences, life sciences, physical sciences, and engineering. With the rise of the European Union’s Framework Programmes and the creation of the European Research Council, ESF’s role gradually shifted. In the 2010s it restructured, winding down many of its scientific programmes and transitioning to a service-based organisation supporting peer review, evaluation, and research management.
The European Cell Biology Organisation was founded in 1969 to promote the advancement of cell biology in Europe through international collaboration, training, and scientific exchange. It organised congresses, meetings, and training activities to strengthen the discipline and provide a platform for researchers across national boundaries.
ECBO applied to become affiliated with the EMBC in December 1974. A working group of the EMBC was established to evaluate this proposal, which recommended that two representatives of ECBO be represented on the EMBO course committee, which was accepted.
EMBO’s women in science program began in the early 2000s, with a special meeting called “The Glass Ceiling for Women in the Life Sciences being held in June 2001, and Gerlind Wallon producing a position paper highlighting the issues facing women in the life sciences in December of the same year.
In 2002, EMBO established Re-Start Fellowships, the purpose of which was to support women scientists who wanted to return to the bench after having taken a break (eg. Maternity leave), with 2 year fellowships.
In 2006, the Set-Routes initiative was established. For a period of 3 years, The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and the European Organization for Particle Physics (CERN) managed an initiative to increase the visibility of women in science in education by mobilising “successful women in science, engineering and technology (SET) to go into schools and universities throughout Europe and beyond.” This project was funded by the European Commission.
In October 2008, EMBO council stated that all EMBO programmes were to keep statistics and have established rules and guidelines that highlight and address the under-representation of women in science, and in that same year the first EMBO/FEBS Women in Science awardee was chosen.
The Women in Science programme has engaged in other activities, including holding meetings, publishing reports on the issues facing women in science in scientific journals, and funding lectures by prominent women scientists.
The Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) was established in 1964 as a non-profit scientific organization to promote and support biochemistry, molecular biology, and related disciplines in Europe. It is one of the largest organizations of its kind in the region, bringing together national biochemical societies across Europe and neighbouring areas. FEBS organizes annual congresses, advanced courses, fellowships, and publications—including The FEBS Journal—to foster scientific exchange, training, and collaboration.
The Membership Department administers EMBO’s elected membership, the core body of the organization since its foundation in 1964. From the beginning, the EMBO Secretariat managed the nomination and election of Members. As membership grew through the 1980s and 1990s, these tasks developed into a dedicated function within the EMBO Office in Heidelberg. The department's main responsibilities are administering the annual nomination and voting process for new Members and Associate Members, acting as the point of contact for Members and communicating announcements, updates, and recognition of new elections, and keeping the official membership register and related biographical data.
EMBO Press is the editorially independent publishing arm of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). It brings together EMBO’s scientific journals and publishing activities under EMBO’s own publishing platform with a stated mission to promote transparent, ethical, and reproducible scientific publishing. EMBO’s journals began as discrete titles with the establishment of The EMBO Journal in 1982, and were published on behalf of EMBO by commercial publishing partners for many years; in 2013 EMBO consolidated editorial control and branding under EMBO Press while continuing to work with production/distribution partners.
EMBO Press currently publishes five titles: The EMBO Journal, EMBO Reports, Molecular Systems Biology, EMBO Molecular Medicine, and Life Science Alliance.
The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of European states, formally established by the Maastricht Treaty in 1993. It traces its origins to earlier forms of European cooperation, including the European Coal and Steel Community (1951) and the European Economic Community (1957). The EU aims to promote peace, stability, and prosperity through shared institutions, a single market, and common policies in areas such as trade, agriculture, research, and the environment. It has progressively expanded in membership and competences, and today comprises 27 member states (following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom in 2020). The EU operates through a system of supranational institutions—including the European Commission, European Parliament, and European Council—and has its own legal framework, currency (the euro, adopted by 20 members), and external relations.