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With EBNIC-2 not being accepted for funding, EMBO Council decided to establish a working party to establish a strategic focus for a World Programme, analysing how much emphasis to give to different actions, different geographic areas that should be targeted, and how to interact with other national and international activities.

The World Programme was ratified by council in 2003. It initially offered 6-9 month “Medium Term” fellowships, with a focus on training, acquiring new techniques, and building relationships which should continue after the scientists’ return to their home labs. They also offered Practical courses to allow students from different continents to interact with each other and to learn new methods together, workshops to allow scientists from different countries to meet, discuss, and plan to collaborate, and plenary lectures to build the profile of European scientists internationally.

Additionally, the World Programme reached an agreement with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to work with EMBO to establish a screening service in order to improve the flow of high-quality scientists to Europe, and in return to provide fellowships and the organisation of courses and workshops in China.

It also created a Mobility Consultancy initiative in collaboration with HFSP, the Wellcome Trust, and The World Academy of Sciences, the purpose of which was to provide information on European funding sources and grant application procedures to interested scientists outside of Europe.

In conjunction with these organisations, EMBO also coordinated a project to research information on educational opportunities, research accomplishments, and science policy in a selection of resource-constrained countries. Together they presented a meeting entitled “Promoting Life Sciences in Developing Countries”, bringing together representatives of major international organisations supporting the sciences in resource-constrained countries, and published a report off the back of this meeting.

In 2008 council decided to establish a working party to advise on future strategies related to developing a policy strategy to inform EMBO’s relationships with Non-European countries, and a year later the program was renamed “EMBO Global Exchange Programme”. The purpose was not to teach basic research, but instead to establish high-level scientific interactions/partnerships with countries where good science and scientific infrastructure had already been established. A committee was established to oversee its activities. In 2012 the name was changed once again, this time to “Global Activities”.

In 2005 the EMBC began to formalise its relationships with countries outside of the European area, initiating a cooperation status with South Africa, which expired in 2016. Following this, the EMBC established its first full cooperation agreement with Singapore in 2011, with Singapore subsequently become EMBO’s first Associate Member State in 2015. India became an Associate Member State a year later in 2016. Taiwan entered a cooperation agreement with EMBO in 2012, Chile signed one in 2018, and the Japan Science and Technology Agency signed one in 2023.

In 1999, EMBO, EMBL, and ELSO engaged in talks to create a Forum for the life sciences in Europe, coming together at a meeting at the EMBO headquarters to establish the ELSF shortly thereafter. The ELSF aimed to empower scientists to engage more actively in strategic and science policy matters, to present a unified voice on issues of shared concern, and to enhance the visibility and policy influence of organisations representing the life sciences.

A small governing body was appointed consisting of Frank Gannon, Fotis Kafatos, Kai Simons, and Julio E. Celis as President. Luc van Dyck joined as manager six months after the organisation was created. The secretariat was set up at the EMBL/EMBO facilities in Heidelberg and the EMBL, EMBO, and FEBS offered to cover a large fraction of the expenses for a period of 3 years.

Additionally, the ELSF identified as priorities the career of young scientists and the creation of a European Research Council (ERC) to support basic research.

The Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE) is an independent association of various research organisations and scientific groups that was founded on 25th October 2004. It was initiated to promote science in the formulation of European policy making. Its first efforts were coordinated by the European Life Sciences Forum (another organization EMBO played a crucial role in founding in 2000), but EMBO also joined as a founding member. Maria Leptin (EMBO Director 2010-2021) served as the ISE’s president and Fiona Watt (EMBO Director 2021-) currently serves on the executive committee.

In December 1965 EMBO secured a grant from the Volkswagen Foundation to fund their activities for 3 years. EMBO was keen that it’s financial support from the VW foundation not be permanent, as it wished for its long term funding to come from all participating nations, rather than organisations belonging to just one in order to ensure its independence.

EMBO, alongside its Swiss partners, organized two “temporary” conferences attended by governmental representatives to establish a consensus for an inter-governmental organization. The two focus points of these meetings were the long-term management of EMBO’s programs, and the question of establishing a European Laboratory.

Through these two conferences the constitution of the European Molecular Biology Conference was established, and in 1970, 14 governments officially established the EMBC, which to the present day supports EMBO’s General Programme. Over the years this programme has expanded through the EMBC creating “special projects” to allow new activities to be performed. It was through this process that the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) was created.

In December 1965 EMBO secured a grant from the Volkswagen Foundation to fund their activities for 3 years. EMBO was keen that it’s financial support from the VW foundation not be permanent, as it wished for its long term funding to come from all participating nations, rather than organisations belonging to just one in order to ensure its independence.

EMBO, alongside its Swiss partners, organized two “temporary” conferences attended by governmental representatives to establish a consensus for an inter-governmental organization. The two focus points of these meetings were the long-term management of EMBO’s programs, and the question of establishing a European Laboratory.

Through these two conferences the constitution of the European Molecular Biology Conference was established, and in 1970, 14 governments officially established the EMBC, which to the present day supports EMBO’s General Programme. Over the years this programme has expanded through the EMBC creating “special projects” to allow new activities to be performed. It was through this process that the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) was created.

The EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) is a biennial, pan-European meeting dedicated to scientific research, innovation, and dialogue between science and society. It was launched in 2004 in Stockholm under the auspices of EuroScience, a grassroots association of researchers founded in 1997. ESOF brings together scientists, policymakers, industry representatives, and the public for discussions on cutting-edge research, science policy, and societal challenges. Each edition is hosted by a different European city, serving as the “European City of Science,” and features a programme of scientific sessions, public engagement events, and policy debates. ESOF has become one of Europe’s largest interdisciplinary science forums, complementing EU research initiatives by fostering international collaboration, science communication, and public trust in science.