The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) was launched in July 1964 after a group of European biologists had discussed the idea earlier at a meeting in
Ravello. At the Ravello meeting,
Max Perutz was elected as the first EMBO chairman and
John Kendrew as secretary general. Since 1964, scientists have been elected annually as members of EMBO based on excellence in research. As of 2023, there are 31 EMBC Member States and five EMBO / EMBC global partners. Agreements are in place with India (Department of Biotechnology, DBT), Singapore (Agency for Science, Technology and Research, A*STAR), Taiwan (National Science and Technology Council, NSTC, and Academia Sinica), Chile (National Agency for Research and Development of Chile, ANID) and Japan (Japan Science and Technology Agency, JST). In 1982,
the EMBO Journal was launched, in 1986, the
EMBO Gold Medal, an annual award for young scientists, was established. The EMBO Young Investigator Programme which awards grants to young group leader was established in 2000 and four additional journals were launched in 2000 (
EMBO Reports), 2005 (
Molecular Systems Biology), 2008 (
EMBO Molecular Medicine) and 2019 (
Life Science Alliance). Life Science Alliance is co-published with Rockefeller University Press and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. In 2022, Fiona Watt was appointed sixth director of EMBO succeeding the previous EMBO Directors Raymond Appleyard, John Tooze,
Frank Gannon, Hermann Bujard and Maria Leptin. In 2011, EMBO established a Policy Programme which interacts with policymakers and provides analysis of concerns emerging from advances in scientific research. Closely affiliated organisations to EMBO include the
European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the
Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) which like EMBO, primarily operate in the
European Research Area (ERA). ==References==