EMBO

About

Since its launch in 2000, the EMBO Young Investigator Programme (YIP) selects independent scientists throughout the EMBC Member States, thereby creating a European network of outstanding life scientists.
From the onset the EMBO Young Investigator Programme has attracted applications from some of the best young independent scientists in Europe.

From the onset, this highly competitive programme has attracted applications from some of the best young group leaders in Europe and its neighbouring countries. With a success rate of only 13 percent, membership is a true mark of scientific excellence.

A number of unique benefits help the young group leaders establish a reputation as excellent scientists. In addition to an annual financial award of 15,000 euros for three years made available by individual EMBC Member States*, selected participants receive extensive support for networking interactions and other career development opportunities:

• Networking funds
• Annual young investigator meeting and more specialized sectoral meetings
• Lecture grants and financial support for organizing meetings
• Mentoring by EMBO Members
• Laboratory management courses
• Privileged access to EMBL core facilities
• Meeting grants and courses for lab members
• For more details, see the benefits tab

*List of Member Countries that by the end of 2004 have agreed to pay the monetary award of 15,000 euro: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Singapore (which has a cooperation agreement with EMBO), Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom

Eligibility

Applicants should:

• Lead their first independent laboratory for at least one and not more than four years in an EMBC Member State. Please note - For female candidates with children the four year time limit is extended by one year per child.
• Have at least two years of post PhD scientific experience and an excellent track record.
• Work in the very broadly defined area of molecular biology.
• Have obtained sufficient funding to run their laboratories. The applicant and his/her home institution must demonstrate that the former enjoys true scientific and financial independence.
• Have published at least one last author paper after establishing an independent laboratory.
  Please note - We accept 'last author' papers that are in submission by the deadline (1 April each year). Please list these papers in the application form. Applicants will be given the opportunity to update their publication list prior to the committee meeting.

Only in exceptional cases will an application from scientists over 40 years (i.e. 41 and above by the deadline of application) be considered. As special reasons the committee will consider:

- the birth of children (women only)
- parental leave
- illness
- extended military service

Please contact us should you require any further information.

Application

Please read the YIP Application Guidelines (pdf).

Deadline 1 April each year.

Interviews: October

Application process:

Application to the EMBO Young Investigator Programme is via via a two-stage application process.

In the pre-application stage, applicants will be asked to submit basic information about their scientific career and track record.  The selection committee will then invite full applications from pre-selected candidates to be submitted by 4 June 2012.

Pre-application to the EMBO Young Investigator Programme is via our online application process. There are two parts to the application form:

• Online Form
• YIP pre-application form (doc)

The online form requests general information on the candidate’s scientific background, and details of three referees. The YIP pre-application form asks for a more detailed CV and your publications to-date. Please read the application guidelines for full instructions on the required information.

After the application deadline (1 April), we will confirm that the pre-application has been received and is complete. Please note - referees names should be added as soon as possible prior to the deadline to ensure the system notifies these scientists in time. You can continue to update your online form until 1 April. Your referees will automatically be contacted by EMBO to submit their letters before the deadline. Letters of reference will only be accepted via the online application system.

Applicants who pass the pre-application selection stage, will be informed by 14 May and asked to submit a full application by 4 June 2012.  The full application requires further information to be input into the online application system including details of the host institution, laboratory funding & personnel. A final application form (YIP full application form) must also be completed and uploaded as a PDF to the online form.  This form asks again for your CV & publication list (to allow inclusion of any updates since 1 April), as well as abstracts for your four best publications, a short description of your previous research (1-page) and a more detailed (4-page) description of your current research. Please read the application guidelines for full instructions on how to complete this form.

Selection

Incoming applications are screened to ensure eligibility requirements are met. The pre-applications of eligible candidates will be sent to the Selection Committee for pre-screening in April and approximately 40-50% of the applicants will be invited to submit a full application and attend an interview.

Full applications will also be sent to an EMBO Member expert in the area of the applicant's research for a confidential review. Applicants may exclude reviewers who may have a conflict of interest when they submit their full application.

Interviews will take place in October 2012 at EMBO in Heidelberg. The interviews will be conducted by the committee. Candidates should prepare a 10 minute presentation summarizing their current projects and future directions. The presentation will be followed by 10 minutes of discussion.

Applicants are expected to be available for the interview. Final decisions will be made following the interviews. All candidates will be informed by email.

Timetable for the selection procedure

The EMBO Young Investigator Committee is looking for the best and most promising young independent researchers in Europe. The primary selection criterion applied by all EMBO committees is scientific excellence.

The aspects considered in particular by the EMBO Young Investigator Committee are:

• Track record
  • Are the publications to date an indication that this is an outstanding scientist?
  • Has the applicant shown a willingness to change research area, which is an indication of an ability to tackle new and important problems?
    
• Research
  • Is the proposed research interesting and realistic?
  • Are the proposed projects a continuation of the applicant's post-doctoral work or do the projects represent independent research themes?
• Group and Research environment
  • Is the research environment conducive to competitive research?
  • Are the number of laboratory members and the available funds sufficient to undertake the described research?
• Independence
  • Is the candidate intellectually and financially independent? What is the influence of former supervisors and institute heads on the candidate's current research?
    

All applicants will be informed of the results via email.

Benefits

The EMBO Young Investigator Programme offers a number of unique benefits to support the young group leaders in establishing a reputation as excellent scientists. Detailed information can be found here.

An annual financial award of 15,000 euro for three years is made available by individual EMBC Member States*. EMBO also offers additional competitively awarded small grants of up to 10,000 euro to programme members.

Networking funds support interactions with other EMBO Young Investigator laboratories or EMBL group members such as joint lab meetings, student exchanges or visits to other programme members' institutes. An annual meeting provides the opportunity to get together. More specialized sectoral meetings are also held by self-organizing scientific interest groups.

EMBO Young Investigator Lecture Grants support and promote the active participation of EMBO Young Investigators at international meetings. Young investigators organizing scientific conferences can also apply for financial support for their meeting. Other features that aim to raise the profile of EMBO Young Investigators include invitation to the EMBO Members' Workshop and publication of a programme booklet, which is sent out to over 2500 addresses including both national and international funding agencies.

The Young Investigator Programme supports the career development of its members by offering to pair young investigators with EMBO Members as their mentors. Laboratory management courses also offer training in essential management skills.

Access to EMBL Core Facilities, and an annual one-page advert in Nature for vacancies in young investigator laboratories help support young investigators' laboratories.

An annual PhD course provides PhD students working in the young investigators' labs with a broad overview of the biological sciences. Grants are also offered to support group members attending meetings or courses.

Former members of the programme are invited to participate in some of the networking activities, including the annual young investigator and sectoral meetings. They remain part of a prestigious network of current and former young investigators and installation grantees that exceeds 290 members.

*List of Member States that offer the annual award of 15,000 euro: AAustria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Singapore (which has a cooperation agreement with EMBO), Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom