EMBL Scientific Programme 2001 - 2005 Preface Every five years, the EMBL submits to its governing Council pro- posals for the Scientific Programme to be pursued in the following quinquennium, and for the associated budgetary ceiling (Indicative Scheme). Decisions on these two items are the only ones for which the EMBL Council must achieve unanimity of the member states that are present and voting. EMBL considers these decisions very important not only for the obvious pragmatic reasons, but also because they represent the blueprint according to which we will operate over five years - a very long time for molecular biology! Consistent with the princi- ples that I set as the foundation of my tenure when I was elected Director-General in 1993 (the triad “excellence - cooperation - inclusiveness”), I take the responsibility of planning very seri- ously and conduct it as a collaborative exercise, both within the Laboratory and in the member states. This draft Scientific Programme proposal was formulated within the EMBL in intensive discussions and drafting over eight months (late February to mid-October, 1999). We began with an exciting two-day retreat of all the group leaders and team leaders, during which the broad directions of our plan began to emerge. Subsequent discussions engaged mostly the heads of Units and Senior Scientists. As our plans became clearer, we exposed them to valuable critique by panels of experts that we invited to consul- tations in Heidelberg for this purpose - all the members of our standing scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), and an approxi- mately equal number of other leading scientists, with a significant contingent from the US to give us a truly external perspective. These consultations were extremely helpful, and we are grateful to those who came (and who sent follow-up comments; participants are listed in the Annexes; of course not everyone who was invited was able to come). EMBL Scientific Programme 2001-2005 The Scientific Coordinator of EMBL, Dr. Iain Mattaj, played a leading role in the preparation of the proposal - for which I am grateful. He and I worked on drafts concerning the Units that were prepared by their heads, and drafts of other sections that we wrote ourselves and then exchanged or passed by others in the Laboratory. We are thankful for valuable strategic advice (and some writing) provided by Dr. Denis Prager, and for editorial suggestions by Russ Hodge. Russ and his colleagues in the Office of Information and Public Affairs were responsible for the Annexes; Volker Wiersdorff designed the cover and the layout of the docu- ment. The proposal does not end here. It will be widely circulated among our Alumni and all members of EMBO with a request for feedback. It will be sent to the policy-makers in the member states, and will be discussed with EMBL Council as the proposal evolves further. I will visit each of the member states to meet with high-level pol- icy-makers and the scientific experts to whom they will turn for advice on our proposal. We want to engage in a dialogue which - based on the experience of five years ago - we expect to be help- ful and constructive. Ultimately, it will be voted on by Council - along with the Indicative Scheme proposal that will be formulat- ed together with the Administrative Director, Barton Dodd. This is a drawn-out process - but I am convinced that the serious- ness of the effort, and the receptiveness to dialogue, will generate a blueprint that will be approved and will permit EMBL to flour- ish, in support of European Molecular Biology. 11 October 1999 Fotis C. Kafatos Director-General Table of Contents A. Synopsis 1 I. The mission, uniqueness and added value of EMBL 2 II. The vision for the next five years 5 III. Summary of proposed activities 7 A. Safeguarding the Foundations: Research and Technology Units . 7 B. Building Bridges: New Inter-Unit Initiatives . 7 C. Expanding the Impact: Training, Services and Outreach . 8 B. Outline Proposal 9 I. The scientific context 10 II. The European context 11 III. The EMBL context A. The mission and the added value of EMBL. 12 B. The scientific community and culture at EMBL. 13 C. The current EMBL Units . 15 D. Changing priorities to meet new challenges: The recent past . 16 IV. The Research and Technology Programme 2001-2005 21 A. The overall concept. 21 B. Plans of Inter-Unit Initiatives . 24 1. Bioinformatics. 24 2. Functional Genomics and Proteomics. 25 3. Molecular interactions and complexes . 26 4. The intracellular RNA world . 26 5. Biological systems analysis . 27 6. Molecular Medicine . 28 C. Plans of the Laboratory’s Units . 30 1. Heidelberg: Structural Biology . 30 2. Heidelberg: Gene Expression . 30 3. Heidelberg: Cell Biology and Biophysics. 31 4. Heidelberg: Developmental Biology . 32 5. Heidelberg: Biochemical Instrumentation . 32 6. Heidelberg: Additional Research . 33 7. Monterotondo: Mouse Biology . 34 8. Hinxton: The European Bioinformatics Institute . 34 9.-10. The Hamburg and Grenoble Outstations . 36 V. Plans for training, service and outreach 2001-2005 39 A. Advanced Training . 40 B. EMBL: A meeting place . 40 C. Scientific service . 42 D. Proposed institutional partnerships . 43 E. Other outreach activities . 44 C. Detailed Proposal 47 I. The Research and Technology Programme 2001-2005 48 A. Inter-Unit Initiatives . 48 1. Bioinformatics . 48 2. Functional Genomics and Proteomics . 51 3. Molecular Interactions and Complexes . 57 4. The Intracellular RNA World . 59 5. Biological Systems Analysis . 61 6. Molecular Medicine. 64 B. The Units of the Laboratory . 72 1. Heidelberg - Structural Biology . 72 2. Heidelberg - Gene Expression . 74 3. Heidelberg - Cell Biology and Biophysics . 77 4. Heidelberg - Developmental Biology . 83 5. Heidelberg - Biochemical Instrumentation . 86 6. Heidelberg - Additional Research Groups . 90 7. Monterotondo - Mouse Biology . 94 8. Hinxton - The European Bioinformatics Institute . 96 9. Grenoble Outstation . 111 10. Hamburg Outstation . 117 II. Training, service and outreach 125 A. Advanced training . 125 1. EMBL International PhD Programme . 126 2. Postdoctoral Fellows Programme . 127 3. Medical Fellows . 127 B. A meeting place . 128 1. Visitors Programmes . 128 2. Courses and Meetings for Visitors . 129 C. Scientific service . 130 D. Proposed institutional partnerships . 132 E. Other outreach activities . 134 1. Research Collaborations . 134 2. EMBL Alumni: Repatriation through turnover . 134 3. Industry Associates . 135 4. Technology Transfer . 136 5. Information, public affairs, and social issues . 137 (continued) Table of Contents (continued) D. Annexes: Supplemental Documentation 141 General Introduction 143 I. EMBL Alumni 144 Table 1a: Current locations of EMBL alumni . 145 Table 1b: EMBL alumni by location and staff position . 146 Table 1c: EMBL alumni in member & non-member states. 147 Table 1d: Analysis of EMBL alumni in member states . 148 Table 1e: Trends: fellows compared to faculty . 149 Table 1f: Trends: fellows & staff scientists, group leaders . 149 Brief discussion . 150 Table 2: Names of alumni . 152 Recruitment of EMBL faculty: Case studies from 1997 - 1999 . 192 Table 3a: EMBL Faculty recruitments in 1997. 192 Table 3b: EMBL Faculty recruitments in 1998. 193 Table 3c: EMBL Faculty recruitments in 1999. 194 Table 4: Students in the EMBL International PhD Programme . 195 II. Visitors and users of major facilities 196 Table 1: Visitors and users 1997 and 1998 . 197 III. Courses and Workshops at EMBL (1996-1999) 198 IV. Technology Transfer 210 V. Scientific Consultations 212 VI. Sample of statements about EMBL 214 VII. “Challenges for European Biology, ” 216 by Fotis C. Kafatos VIII. Excerpt from “Will biomedicine outgrow support?” 218 by Max Perutz IX. Statutes of the EMBL International PhD Programme 221 A. Synopsis A. Synopsis I. The mission, uniqueness and added value of EMBL The central mission of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) is to promote the development of molecular biology throughout Europe. In the 25 years of its existence, EMBL has addressed this mission admirably and achieved a major impact disproportionate to its modest size. Because it was designed as a flexible organization with uncompromising standards of quality, it continues to adapt to changing needs and to be recognized as a world-class center, a show-case for European science. It is a cohesive and distinctive focus of excellence, but it builds substantial synergies with the research communities of the member states. Its focus is basic research, but it is active in transferring technology to enterprises. Without the EMBL, Europe would be much less prepared than it is now to exploit the tremendous opportunities in biology, bio- medicine and biotechnology at the start of the new millennium. These opportunities also represent great challenges: to overcome the fragmentation, the structural problems and the underfunding 2 that still confront basic and applied molecular life sciences in Europe. EMBL continues to have major tasks in the coming era. EMBL Scientific Programme 2001-2005 EMBL is a unique institution with an impressive international scientific community engaged in a distinctive mix of top-quality activities. • Distinctive combination of activities: The activities at EMBL are diverse but remarkably integrated. An essential foundation is leading-edge research in selected major areas of structural, molecular, cellular and developmental biology. This foundation supports flourishing activities that are of direct consequence for the member states, namely the development of novel tech- niques and instrumentation; extensive training at multiple lev- els; provision of essential services to the scientific community through major infrastructure facilities; and intensive outreach activities such as hosting visitors and holding an impressive range of practical courses and scientific meetings. The quality of the individual activities is recognized as excellent. Their mix is unique and mutually reinforcing. • The EMBL structure and policies are flexible and support excellence: The policies of EMBL create exceptional flexibility, and are central to its success. Appointments are made exclu- sively on individual merit, not by national quotas.