EMBL is Europe's intergovernmental life sciences laboratory, established in 1974 and headquartered in Heidelberg. The organisation operates across six sites - Barcelona, Grenoble, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Hinxton, and Rome - supported by more than 30 member states. With approximately 1,600 employees from many nations, EMBL conducts fundamental molecular biology research through more than 110 independent research groups and service teams.
The organisation pursues five core missions: conducting research, delivering scientific services to researchers across Europe, training early-career scientists, facilitating technology transfer, and contributing to science policy. EMBL-EBI, its European Bioinformatics Institute, maintains extensive biological data resources that enable discovery worldwide. The International PhD programme enrolls around 200 doctoral students annually and is recognised as one of Europe's most prestigious training grounds for early-career scientists. EMBL also hosts world-class courses, conferences, and workshops for the research community.
EMBL is committed to open access publication and fair, responsible research assessment practices. Its work spans molecular biology, bioinformatics, biological data infrastructure, scientific services, researcher training, technology transfer, and science policy.