As a membership organization, EMBO owes its reputation and impact to the quality and dedication of its community of more than 1,800 EMBO Members. The members apply their expert insight to guide the execution of all EMBO initiatives through scientific peer review and by serving on EMBO Council, Committees and Advisory Boards. As a result, EMBO Members collectively influence the future direction of life science research and strengthen the research communities across Europe.

Complementing the EMBO Members working in the EMBC Member States, a number of EMBO Associate Members joins the organization from countries in other parts of the world each year. The EMBO Associate Members add a global perspective to the current activities and future directions of EMBO.

While EMBO Membership is a lifelong honour, an efficient annual nomination and election process ensures that the scope of EMBO remains broad and open, with the flexibility to expand rapidly into emerging areas and to embrace new concepts in the life sciences. As a consequence, the scope of the organization has grown and evolved from its deep historical roots in the “molecular biology” of the 1960s to the postgenomic life sciences that pervade and improve the lives of people today.