Eligibility

Candidates applying for an Installation Grant must:

• Be negotiating a full-time group leader position at an institute/university in the Czech Republic, Poland, Portugal, Lithuania, Turkey and Montenegro by the date of application
  OR have established a laboratory in one of these countries in the last two years.
• Have spent at least two consecutive years outside the country in which they are planning to establish their laboratory in the four years prior to application.
• Have received their PhD less than 9 years prior to application.
• For female candidates with children, 9-years since PhD is automatically extended by one year per child.
• For male applicants with children, these limits can be extended by the actual time taken off as paternity leave or – if their partner is working at least 80% FTE (full-time equivalent) – three months per child, whichever is longer.
• illness and extended military service are considered as exceptional circumstances on a case-by-case basis. Special provision may also be made for clinical scientists. If you feel your circumstances warrant an extension of the eligibility periods, please contact the EMBO Young Investigator Programme office ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) for advice before applying.
• Be able to attend an interview in Heidelberg, Germany, on 4 November 2020.

For detailed information on the eligibility criteria, please consult the application guidelines (pdf).

Application

Application round for EMBO Installation Grants 2020 is now open.

Application process

• The deadline for pre-applications is 15 April 2020, 14:00 CEST.
• Approximately 50% of the applicants will be interviewed by the Young Investigator Committee on 4 November 2020.
• After the interview, the EMBO Young Investigator Committee ranks all applicants and makes a binding recommendation to the Strategic Development Installation Grants (SDIG) Board.
• Final decisions on the award of an Installation Grant are made by the SDIG Board at the end of November. The decision is based on the ranking provided by the EMBO Young Investigator Committee.
• All applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application by email shortly after the board meeting.

Required documentation

The complete application for Installation Grants consists of:

• CV
• Synopsis of recent work
• Description of the research programme
• Short summary of proposed research
• Publication list and list of two best papers
• Three letters of reference
• Description of the receiving institute
• ORCID
• Information and confirmation of the receiving institute, including a description of
  • the available infrastructure
  • any start-up package provided
  • the duties and benefits of the applicant

EMBO will consider papers published on preprint servers (arXiv, BioRxiv, PeerJ., etc).

Do NOT indicate the journal impact factor. EMBO is a signatory of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment ( DORA ), which recommends “not to use journal based metrics, such as Journal Impact Factors, as a surrogate measure of the quality of individual research articles, to assess an individual scientist’s contributions, or in hiring, promotion, or funding decisions”.

For detailed information on the eligibility criteria, application process, key dates and required documentation, please consult the application guidelines (pdf).

Selection

Selection criteria

The selection committee takes into account the application, interview report and host institute's offer and will rank all applications based on the following criteria:

• Track record
• Proposed research
• Group and research environment
• Offer by the host institute
• Financial and intellectual independence

For a detailed list of selection criteria, download our application guidelines.

Selection process

The number of grants available each year is decided by the Strategic Installation Grant (SDIG) Board, which is made up of representatives from participating EMBC Members States. Selection of EMBO Installation Grantees is made by the EMBO Young Investigator Committee.

The selection process involves the following steps:

• All incoming applications are screened by the EMBO Office to ensure eligibility requirements are met.
• Approximately 50% of the applicants are selected for interview with an EMBO Young Investigator Committee in Heidelberg, on the 4th of November
• All the applications from the candidates selected for the interview are sent to an EMBO Member, who is an expert in the applicant’s research area, for a confidential review.
• After the interview, the EMBO Young Investigator Committee ranks all applicants and makes a binding recommendation to the Strategic Development Installation Grants (SDIG) Board.
• Final decisions on the award of an Installation Grant are made by the SDIG Board at the end of November 2020. The decision is based on the ranking provided by the EMBO Young Investigator Committee.
• All applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application by email shortly after the board meeting (in December).

Research Integrity

EMBO expects responsible conduct of research from its awardees. All the research activities carried out shall be in compliance with fundamental ethical and research integrity principles. In line with our commitment with these initiatives, we require all Installation Grantees to complete an online course on research integrity.