22

Council meeting in Rome ...page 2

summer council meeting 2

EMBL centres 4

science for teachers 5

the EMBO corner 7

music@embl 8

alumni profile 10

news & events 11

people@EMBL 12

August 2004EMBL&ceteraNewsletter of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory

summer party 2004 ...page 8MitoCheck ...page 4

in this issue...

Chickens run rampant at the EBI

Mattaj named next DG at Council meeting

EMBL groups will play a key role in MitoCheck, an EC-funded, high-throughputanalysis of genes that contribute to the cell cycle. Eleven different institutes willparticipate in the 8.5-million-Euro project, which utilizes made-at-EMBL technol-ogy to investigate fundamental questions in a new way. on page 4

EC grants major award to PhD Programme

MitoCheck: on the trail of the cell cycle

Members of Jochen Wittbrodt’s group appear prominently in the latest edition ofthe journal Mechanisms of Development, a special issue devoted to the results of amajor medaka mutagenesis screen. Following on the heels of the completion ofa high-quality version of the medaka genome, the studies are producing a treas-ure trove of information about vertebrate development and the evolution of fish.

on page 5

A wealth of information from a little fish

Yes, the EBI is working on the chicken genome, but fowl play a wider role in thedaily life of the EBI. If anyone should know, it’s Mark Green, Head of EBIAdministration, and he does his best to keep us abreast of the situation.

on page 9

Where in the world is...EMBL alumnus Davide Corona?

Four years after leaving EMBL,Davide Corona returns to his nativeItaly this summer to assume a juniorinvestigator position at the SanRaffaele Institute (Milan).

In this issue’s alumni profile, Davidetalks about the effects that movingbetween continents has on the life of ayoung researcher and his family.

While at EMBL, Davide worked as aPhD student in Peter Becker’s groupon proteins that remodel chromatin;he continued this work at theUniversity of Santa Cruz in Californiaand will take it further in Milan, usingDrosophila as a model system.

on page 10

Iain Mattaj will be the next Director-General of the European Molecular BiologyLaboratory. The decision was reached at a meeting of EMBL's governing Council,held in Rome on June 29. Iain will take office starting in May 2005, when the termof the current Director-General Fotis C. Kafatos ends. This was a highlight of thesummer meeting of EMBL Council, which also announced an extension of theLab’s Scientific Programme and Indicative Scheme for an extra year and severalother decisions that will have an important impact on EMBL. on page 2

EMBL’s International PhD Programme has just been awarded one of the firstMarie Curie Early Stage Training (EST) institutional grants from the EuropeanCommission for its proposal “Early-Stage Training in Advanced Life ScienceResearch Across Europe (E-STAR).” The grant totals nearly 2.5 million Euros andwill fund up to 18 graduate student fellowships over 2.5 years. EST grants are akey mechanism by which the EC is helping to provide young researchers withstructured scientific or technological training opportunities under FrameworkProgramme 6. on page 6

Iain Mattaj will be the next Director-General of the European MolecularBiology Laboratory. The decision wasreached and announced at a meeting ofEMBL's governing Council, held in Romeon June 29. Iain will take office starting inMay 2005, when the term of the currentDirector-General Fotis C. Kafatos ends.

Iain was born in Scotland in 1952 and wastrained in the UK and Switzerland. Hecame to EMBL in 1985, where he has led avery successful Unit since 1990, becomingScientific Director for the whole of EMBLin 1999. He is a distinguished scientistwhose contributions have been recognizedby his election as a Fellow of the RoyalSociety (London), Fellow of the RoyalSociety of Edinburgh, Member ofAcademia Europea and Foreign HonoraryMember of the American Academy of Artsand Science, as well as by the award of theprestigious Louis-Jeantet Prize forMedicine in 2001. His early work focusedon assemblies of RNA and protein (RNPs)in the cell, including those involved inmessenger RNA production. Subsequently,Iain characterized mechanisms of macro-molecular transport between the two majorcellular compartments, the nucleus and thecytoplasm, and of the spatial regulation ofstructures and processes underlying cell

division. He is a member of the EuropeanMolecular Biology Organization (EMBO)and has helped make the EMBO Journal ahighly successful international scientificjournal, most recently as Executive Editor.

Iain says, “Having had a supporting role inthe leadership of EMBL since 1999, Ibelieve that much of the Laboratory's cur-rent strategic planning is on the right track.I hope to harness the creativity of theLaboratory and to build on the successfulefforts of my predecessors by helpingmake EMBL a flagship for 21st centuryBiology, just as it has been a leader overmuch of the past three decades. But if thereis one lesson I have learned here it is thatthe pace of progress in the Life Sciences isremarkable. The rate of change and theevolution of ideas within the Laboratoryneed to match this pace, and I will have toensure that they do. I look forward to thischallenge.”

EMBL&cetera Issue 22 - August 2004

Decisions made at EMBL's semi-annualcouncil meetings usually have a direct andlong-term impact on the life of theLaboratory, but the effects are often subtle.Not so at this summer's meeting, held dur-ing the last week of June, generously hostedin Rome at CNR headquarters by Italian del-egate Glauco Tocchini-Valentini. TheCouncil made a number of extremely impor-tant decisions that will be felt in the nearfuture by everyone at EMBL.

One major piece of news from the meetingwas the announcement that Iain Mattaj, cur-rent Scientific Director and head of the GeneExpression Programme, will become thenext Director-General in May 2005, when theterm of Fotis C. Kafatos ends (see storybelow). The decision was unanimous andthe announcement was accompanied by astanding ovation.

Another key decision was to extend the cur-rent scientific and financial plans of theLaboratory (the Scientific Programme andIndicative Scheme) an extra year. Theseplans are crucial because they ensure five-year stability for EMBL, a framework inwhich the management knows whatresources will be available in making strate-gic decisions about overall funding and thedevelopment of specific projects. Adding ayear to the current plan gives the new DGthe time to settle in before submitting adetailed five-year scientific programme and

budget, a big task for which support willhave to be garnered from the Member States.

A central point of the meeting is always theDirector-General's report on the status of theLaboratory, including scientific progress thathas been made. Rather than reporting indetail himself, Fotis said, he would ratherthe Council get a direct impression fromsome of EMBL's scientists. In addition topresentations made by all of Monterotondo'sgroup leaders, given during a half-day out-ing to the unit, Council heard presentationsfrom Lars Steinmetz and Ernst Stelzer aboutongoing projects in their labs.

Council members also heard a report fromthe Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC),which had recently reviewed the GeneExpression Programme in Heidelberg. TheProgramme was given “the most positivereview” in EMBL history, with a special com-mendation to Programme Coordinator IainMattaj for having succeeded in bringingtogether a group of excellent scientists thatare at the forefront of research on chromatin,nuclear assembly and transport. TheMolecular Medicine Partnership Unit, runby Matthias Hentze and Andreas Kulozik(University of Heidleberg), also received ahighly positive review.

Other themes that Fotis underscored includ-ed the establishment of an electron tomogra-phy group and a new electron microscopyfacility in Heidelberg, and the development

of protein expression and crystallizationservices at EMBL-Grenoble. He also report-ed recent developments in the area of part-nerships and collaborations, highlightingthe Chemical Genomics facility (in collabo-ration with the DKFZ), the renewed cooper-ation between DESY and EMBL-Hamburgfor structural biology initiatives, thePartnership for Structural Biology inGrenoble, and the Molecular MedicinePartnship Unit (with the University ofHeidelberg). These demonstrate EMBL’ssuccess at reinforcing ties with research ini-tiatives in the Member States.

Another important development was theacceptance of a proposal to establish an“EMBL International Training Centre”(EITC). The project will bring together underone umbrella various training activities atEMBL (including the International PhDProgramme, courses and workshops, post-doctoral training, sabbatical and other pro-grammes for visitors, such as the EuropeanLearning Laboratory for Life Sciences).Establishing the EITC will help to improvethe organization and promotion of all theaspects of EMBL's training mission.

Finally, two pieces of news from the FinanceCommittee that you've all been waiting for:

First, the following salary adjustments for2004 were approved:

France 3.2%, Germany 2.0%, Italy 4.1% andUK 3.9%.

Key steps for EMBL taken at summer Council meeting in Rome: next DG named;

Iain Mattaj named next EMBL Director-General

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scientific programme extended; and a good time was had by all

ranging from yeast cells to much largerspecimens. The facility can accommodatesimple experiments as well as long-termcollaborations.

It will also serve as a training centre for vis-itors from the member states. If demandexceeds capacity, researchers will be askedto submit project proposals that will be eval-uated by a committee. Successful applicantswill come for one to two weeks to use theequipment, taking home new expertise.

Claude and his team will also carry out theirown cutting-edge research on yeast cells.They use EM methods to study mitosis inbudding yeast and to look at microtubuleorganization in wild-type and mutant fis-sion yeast cells.

For more information on the facility or toarrange a visit, contact Stephanie Weil at theEMBL-Heidelberg Visitors Programme(weil@embl.de).

– Trista Dawson

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Clockwise from left: Walter Witke explains his research as Council visits the Monterotondo campus; Council members tour the mouse facilities, Keith Williamson and Bernd-Uwe Jahn at work in the Monterotondo courtyard; dinner illuminated by the Roman sunset; Bernard Ehresmann (France), Marja Makarow (Finland) and Myriam Néchad(France) compare notes during a break between Council sessions.

The pension adjustments for 2004 will be:

France 2.2%, Germany 1.0% and UK 2.9%(no pensioners in Italy).

And secondly, the committee approved theconstruction of a new car park at theHeidelberg laboratory (!) to help ease thecurrent crowded parking situation.Construction to provide 150 new spaces willbegin at the end of 2004. Germany, as the

host country of the Lab, will make a majorfinancial contribution towards the construc-tion.

In spite of all the work that got done at theCouncil meeting, the schedule included a lit-tle time for R&R under the hot Roman sun:few of those present will forget the vocalduet (and dancing) of Glauco Tocchini-Valentini and Fotis at the restaurant

Pommidoro (although all of those presenthave been sworn to silence). Finally, on thelast evening, CNR hosted a gala dinner atthe Ambassador’s Club on the banks of theTiber river. A good time was had by all, espe-cially the Portuguese and Dutch delegateswho managed to duck out into the TV roomto cheer on their countries in the semifinalmatch of the EuroCup 2004.

Electron Microscopy Core Facility officially opens at EMBL-Heidelberg

Opening day for the EM facility: guests examine state-of-the-art equipment

Jürgen Roemer-Mähler from the Bundesmin-isterium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF)and Anna Della Croce from the ItalianEmbassy in Berlin joined staff at EMBL-Heidelberg on June 18 to celebrate the open-ing of a new Electron Microscopy (EM) CoreFacility. After a brief introduction byDirector-General Fotis Kafatos, EMBL scien-tists Andy Hoenger, Claude Antony andAchilleas Frangakis outlined current andfuture high-tech applications of advancedEM technologies. The BMBF has funded alarge portion of a new electron microscopefor the facility – which has the mostadvanced features available today. Thisinstrument will be predominantly used forhigh-resolution cryo-electron microscopy.

The EM Core Facility, led by Claude Antony,will provide up-to-date know-how on EMmethods for cell biology and immuno-cytochemistry and will assist EMBLscientists in using EM in their research. Thenew Leica High Pressure Freezing (HPF)machine will be a prominent feature of thefacility, allowing users to cryofix samples

EMBL&cetera Issue 22 - August 2004

MitoCheck: a high-throughput approach to understanding cell division

More than twenty scientists from EMBLcame together for the first retreat of theEMBL Centre for Disease Mechanisms(CDM) on June 17. The event provided agreat opportunity to discuss the scientificinterests of the participants and also to drawan outline of the Centre’s activities.

The CDM aims to support medically rele-vant research at EMBL by promoting theincreasingly important application of basicresearch to the understanding and treatmentof human disease. The activities of theCentre will be directed towards expandingthe interface and facilitating translationalresearch between EMBL groups and clinical

research activities at Europe’s medical insti-tutions.

CDM webpages will provide an up-to-dateaccount of EMBL research relevant to dis-ease mechanisms, post notices of meetingsand symposia and disseminate informationabout relevant publications by CDM partici-pants. It will include a “matchmaking” serv-ice, facilitating contacts between externalclinical researchers and EMBL groups. TheCDM will continue to host the popularEMBL-organised symposia and workshopson medically oriented topics including the“Minisymposia on Molecular Medicine.”

An MD-postdoc program will be hosted bythe CDM; the aim is to attract young MDs to

EMBL for postdoctoral training, so that theycan apply basic science to the investigationof disease pathogenesis. Positions will beannounced on the CDM webpages. Fundspermitting, the CDM will also award fellow-ships to talented MDs who join EMBL labs towork on relevant projects.

To facilitate access to available geneticmouse models relevant for disease mecha-nism- oriented research, the CDM will createand maintain an up-to-date database of con-ditional mouse mutants, including both“floxed” alleles and Cre transgenic mice.

– Manolis Pasparakis

MitoCheck will use innovative “live cell arrays” combined with siRNA gene silencing in a high-throughput study of the effects of specific genes on the cell cycle.

Centre for Disease Mechanisms outlines plans for future activities

Among the thousands of new moleculesuncovered by the Human Genome Project,there are sure to be hundreds – maybe more– that play a role in cell division, or mitosis.Discovering these genes would be a greatboon to biological research; among otherthings, it would give scientists new tracks tofollow in trying to understand the causes ofcancer and other diseases that result fromdisruptions of the cell cycle.

This is the goal of a project called MitoCheckthat has just been launched by Jan Ellenberg,Rainer Pepperkok and their groups atEMBL, and researchers from eight otherinstitutes across Europe.

MitoCheck is the fruit of discussions, initiat-ed two years ago, between a group of scien-tists including Marcel Doree, Tim Hunt, KimNasmyth, Jan-Michael Peters, Eric KarsentiIain Mattaj, Jan Ellenberg and Tony Hyman.They realized that although the majorenzyme that causes the transition from mito-sis to interphase, a kinase called cdc2 and itsregulator cyclin, had been known for over 20years (their discovery was awarded theNobel Prize in 2001), there was still no com-prehensive understanding about how all theproteins affected by this kinase work togeth-er to make a cell divide. MitoCheck, anIntegrated Project for the EuropeanCommission’s 6th Framework Programme,aims to close this gap. The project is fundedat a level of 8.5 million Euros, making it the

largest Integrated Project on cell cycle con-trol within FP6.

The first step of the project, carried out byEllenberg and Pepperkok aims to identify allthe genes required for division in humancells. Once the most important of these geneshave been identified, researchers from theother institutes across Europe will step in toanalyze their binding partners, phosphory-lation status and potential role in cancerdiagnosis.

To screen for mitotic genes, MitoCheckweaves together several strands of biotech-nology in an innovative way. Specific genesare silenced using interfering RNAs (RNAi)and cells are then analyzed for defects inmitosis using live cell microscopy. Toachieve the level of throughput necessary toaccomplish this enormous task for the wholegenome, EMBL scientists Beate Neumann,Holger Erfle and Urban Liebel have devel-oped a microarray onto which hundreds ofRNAis can be printed. The chip is simplycovered with living cells that absorb theRNA from the printed spot they grow on.

Once a gene is silenced, EMBL scientists willtake a microscope movie of the cells on eachspot of the array, a step that draws on tech-nology that Rainer and Philippe Bastiaenshave been busy developing. Their high-con-tent screening microscopes will allowresearchers to rapidly take pictures of cells atdifferent locations in the array. As part of thenew project, the concept of screening will be

incorporated into confocal microscopes withthe help of industrial partner LeicaMicrosystems (Mannheim).

The success of MitoCheck will undoubtedlylie in the expertise that each participatinggroup will bring. The Max Planck Instituteof Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden willprovide a vast library of about 20,000 RNAis.These will be used to suppress genes one byone on the chips made by the EMBL scien-tists. With the new screening microscopes,several hundred thousand movies will beproduced to capture the full impact of silenc-ing specific genes. Analyzing the enormousamount of data will be carried out in a closecollaboration with Roland Eils’s group at theDKFZ in Heidelberg.

The Heidelberg team hopes to achieve anearly comprehensive list of genes requiredfor mitosis in human cells, as well as a muchdeeper understanding of what happenswhen each of these genes is suppressed. Allthe data produced through MitoCheck willbe made available to the scientific communi-ty and the public through databases at theWellcome Trust Sanger Institute, anotherpartner.

“The project is an excellent example of aEuropean research network," Jan says. "Wehave assembled a group of top scientistsacross Europe, each of whom is contributingan essential piece towards the common goalof understanding mitosis.”

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Big secrets from a little fish: medaka mutants begin to talk

5

Normally Mechanisms of Development is a tidypublication of just over a hundred pages; inJuly a whopping double issue thumpeddown on our desks, 400 pages of revelationsabout the tiny fish medaka. Among the curi-ous things to be learned: the Japanese haveabout 5000 names for the creature because ithas no real economic value; it's too small toeat, so it doesn't need a standard name forthe menu. People call it whatever theyplease. Children sing a song about schools ofthe fish – on their way to their own schools.

This belies the scientific value of the fish,which has long been studied by Japaneseresearchers and has rapidly become animportant model organism for developmen-tal biology. At EMBL, Jochen Wittbrodt hasbeen the standard-bearer for medaka. Thenames of members of his group appearthroughout the journal. Jochen has activelypushed for the completion of the medakamutagenesis screen and genome (of whichan extremely high-quality version was fin-ished two weeks ago). His own work hasbeen devoted to processes such as the devel-opment of the eye and brain. An importantpart of that work involves large-scale proj-ects to introduce mutations and study theirdevelopmental effects through screens car-ried out in Heidelberg and Kyoto withJapanese collaborators.

“Medaka is attractive when you're workingon developmental themes because it's almosttransparent,” Jochen says. “That makes itpossible to study processes within the bodyin a living organism, in their real context. It's

also a great help to have other fish and theirgenomes – zebrafish and pufferfish – onhand so that you can make comparisons andtake advantage of what has been learned in aclosely-related organism. Medaka's genomeis about half the size of that of the zebrafish,which makes it handier in genetic studies;another factor is that a number of strains areavailable for use in both mutagenesis screen-ing and genetic mapping.”

Mechanisms of Development has now printedthe first BAC map draft of the genome aswell as many specific studies carried out byJochen and others. Screens of mutationsrevealed developmental roles for genes thathad never been observed in zebrafish. Thereare clear parallels between the two species –defective genes often produce the same phe-notypes – but a new finding is that thesemutations have their effects through differ-ent molecular pathways.

The list of discoveries goes on and on: thescreens identified 60 mutants that affect reti-nal development, 25 genes affecting the for-mation of the forebrain, nine that disturb thesegmentation of the body, five that disruptaxon pathfinding, etc. That's just a taste ofwhat you'll find in the journal.

Jochen's group has also promoted the devel-opment of microscope techniques needed toobtain a sharp view of changes in the fishover time. The problem is obvious to anyonewho has watched a medaka hatch – evenwhen the film is greatly slowed down, theanimal escapes from its egg in a flickering

flash of its tail. Even early embryos are rip-pled by rapid contractions that make themhard to observe. Martina Rembold andJochen report that an agent called n-heptanolblocks the contractions without interferingwith development, permitting time-lapseimaging.

A further problem is resolution. Even thoughmedaka is transparent, it’s hard to assemblea detailed three-dimensional image of inter-nal structures. Here Jan Huisken and othermembers of Ernst Stelzer's group have madea breakthrough; in a paper published inScience, they report their invention of a newmicroscope called SPIM. This instrumentpasses slices of light through the fish, illumi-nating layers that are rapidly assembled intoa three-dimensional image, then rotating thesample to capture different angles. Themethod can be used on live samples up to 3-5 millimeters in size, capturing images up to5-to-15 times sharper than conventionalimages of an organism's internal structures(See the article in EMBL&cetera 18).

Finally, Jochen and group member ThorstenHenrich have been behind the developmentof a new genetic screen database (GSD) totrack their findings. The test version andsoftware are available on the EMBL website(www.embl.de/wittbrodt/gsd); scientistscan use it to enter their own findings. So thenext time you notice something funny goingon in your aquarium, and you don't haveanything better to do...

– Russ Hodge

sciencefor teachers

In June, EMBL Education Officers AlexandraManaia and Julia Willingale-Theune pushedtheir textbooks and notes aside to clear somespace on their desks. They needed to makeroom for Silvia Boi, a postdoc-turned-sci-ence-teacher, arriving from Italy for amonth-long visit. In addition to her researchand teaching activities, Silvia is an avid sci-ence communicator, and has even translateda part of Stephen Jay Gould’s last book intoItalian for publication.

The opportunity for the visit arose whenEMBL alumna Maria Luisa Tenchini began acollaboration with the European LearningLaboratory for the Life Sciences (ELLS) andsuggested that Silvia travel to Heidelberg tolearn the ropes of how to prepare for a teach-ers’ course they will run in Milan inNovember. Armed with hundreds of hoursof experience both at the bench and in theclassroom, financial support from EMBLand the Ufficio Scolastico Regionale dellaLombardia and lots of ideas, Silvia set off onher journey to Germany.

Silvia’s main task was to develop teachingmaterials to be used at the workshop in

November, which will focus on the relation-ship between genes and developmental phe-notypes. She plans to have the teachersdetect mutant fish byPCR using a pro-tocol previouslydeveloped byELLS with the helpof PhD studentMartina Remboldfrom Jochen Witt-brodt’s lab. She hasalso translated andintegrated texts intohandbooks that teach-ers can take back intothe classroom. A secondsegment of the coursewill focus on bioinfor-matics, so Silvia enlistedthe help of postdoc Francesca Diella (TobyGibson’s team) to develop a new activity.

“Interacting with scientists like Martina andFrancesca was a great experience,” saysSilvia. “They were really enthusiastic aboutthe research they are doing, and managed toconvey this excitement. It was contagious! I

was also pleased to see how willing the sci-entists at EMBL were to share their research

and time with teachers.”

When organizing the course inMilan, Silvia plans to follow theexample of ELLS LearningLABs.She’ll use the tips and tricks shelearned from Alexandra and Juliaabout how to put together a selec-tion of activities – from hands-onexperiments to discussion ses-sions – which will allow bothteachers and their students toexperience some of the excite-ment that goes inside a molec-ular biology research institute.

ELLS welcomes visiting teach-ers, scientists, and others. When

participants return to their home schools orlaboratories, they will take along plenty ofideas and practical materials, as well as away of staying in contact with a network ofpeople actively working to improve scienceteaching. If you would like to arrange a visit,please contact the ELLS staff atells@embl.de.

ELLS visitor Silvia Boi

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EMBL&cetera Issue 22 - August 2004

EMBL PhD Programme receives coveted Marie Curie EST grant

Navigate your way through the research funding maze with the EMBL grants office

EMBL’s International PhD Programme hasjust been awarded one of the first MarieCurie Early Stage Training (EST) institution-al grants from the European Commission forits proposal “Early-Stage Training inAdvanced Life Science Research AcrossEurope (E-STAR).” EST grants form part ofthe EC’s 6th Framework Programme arsenalto provide young researchers with struc-tured scientific or technological trainingopportunities. The grant totals nearly 2.5million Euros and will fund up to 18 gradu-ate student fellowships over 2.5 years.

Eligible to become E-STAR fellows are inter-nally-funded EMBL students who have beenin the programme for less than a year andwho have successfully passed theirQualifying Assessment. The appointmentswill be made later this year.

“This is a significant development for train-ing activities at the Laboratory and a wel-come recognition of the outstanding qualityand rigour of EMBL’s graduate training pro-gramme,” says Associate Dean of GraduateStudies Anne Ephrussi, who together withMatthias Hentze and Grants Officer

Genevieve Reinke, led the efforts to securethe grant. “It opens up the door for EMBL touse its core funding to accept additionalexcellent students whom we would other-wise have to turn down.” Other externalfunding agencies that support the EMBLPhD Programme include the Louis JeantetFoundation based in Switzerland, whichfunds fellowships for students from EastEuropean countries.

“There were many factors that contributedto EMBL’s success in obtaining this impor-tant grant,” says Genevieve. “In addition tosolid scientific excellence, the Laboratoryoffers many of the infrastructures necessaryto support young scientists from acrossEurope and the world (accommodation, spe-cial visas, childcare facilities, and 24-houron-site food services). EMBL also providesthe perfect setting for students to learn skillsto complement their research, such as com-munications, lab management and confer-ence organization. In many ways EMBL isseen by the EU as a prototype for the waythat training should be done in a Europeanresearch institute.”

EMBL has long-standing and internationallyrecognized experienced in training youngresearchers. In 1997, the EMBL InternationalPhD Programme was granted the right toaward its own PhD degree. Based on thisright, the EMBL has established partner-ships with universities across Europe, withwhom it awards a joint PhD degree. E-STARfellows will be particularly suited to con-tribute to a mission that the EU and EMBLshare: fostering connections between PhDstudents and educational institutions acrossEurope.

There’s a lot of grant money for research outthere, and every EMBL group depends onexternal money alongside the core funding itgets from the Laboratory. But money is notalways easy to find. It’s hard to wadethrough the text of calls to find the rightmatch between a project and funding; youneed a good feeling for the current scientificand political climate, and making an appli-cation can be horrifyingly complex. Aninsider’s knowledge of how the processworks can go a long way towards achievingsuccess, and EMBL’s grant office is there toprovide it. Genevieve Reinke is on hand tohelp researchers out with everything fromkeeping an eye on relevant calls, to filling informs, and even helping them through con-tract negotiations and getting projectsrolling.

“Over the past five years, the Lab has morethan doubled the amount of external fund-ing for projects, from about 10 million Eurosin 1998 to more than 22 million in 2003,”says Genevieve. “EMBL scientists have beenvery successful at putting together majorgrant applications, allowing them to partici-pate in important, large-scale projects.”Externally-funded activities include EMBL-Hamburg’s BIOXHIT, the BioSapiens projectat the EBI, COMBIO (led by Luis Serrano inEMBL-Heidelberg), MitoCheck (see story onpage 4), and even training projects such as E-STAR (see story this page), and theEuropean Learning Laboratory for the LifeSciences (ELLS) just to name a few.

The EU is the largest source of external fund-ing for EMBL, accounting for 25-50% of allexternal contributions. The first call of the6th Framework Programme, in 2003, saw atotal of 35 projects with EMBL scientists (aspartners or coordinators) receive funding.Yet there are other sources as well: increas-ingly, scientists at EMBL are able to apply fornational funding from individual Europeancountries (for example from the DFG andBMBF in Germany, the MRC in the UK, aswell as from other national funding agen-cies) or even the US. Significant funds arealso available from private sector agencies,such as the Wellcome Trust and theVolkswagen Foundation, and many others.

So how does the Grants Office help EMBLresearchers tap into these importantresources?

“The first step is to identify potential fund-ing sources,” says Genevieve. “You need toknow what is out there in order to be able togo get it.” Genevieve collects informationfrom funding agencies and makes it avail-able to the EMBL community via the grantsoffice webpage (www.embl.org/staffonly/financematters). She also keeps an eye outfor calls she knows may be of interest toresearch groups, and will give them theheads up.

The second step is to put together a solidapplication that stands the best chance ofsuccess. For starters, Genevieve can helpdetermine whether the objectives of a pro-

posal meet those of the funding agency, orwhether EMBL is even eligbile for fundingfrom a given organization – potentially sav-ing wasted time and effort. She also coachesscientists to help them develop grant writingskills, giving them tips and tricks on how toformulate applications and passing on expe-rience that is likely to convince fundingorganizations. “Being able to put togethergood grant proposals is a key skill for anyresearcher,” says Genevieve, “and success atraising research funds is regarded as anincreasingly important part of a scientist’sCV. We’re here to help EMBL researchersgain these skills.” Future plans for theGrants Office include organizing regularworkshops and courses on research grant-related themes.

Once a proposal has been accepted for fund-ing by an agency, there may be champagneand celebration, but there is still some workto do. Genevieve steps in to prepare andarrange negotiations, get the required signa-tures and ensure that the contract goesthrough as quickly as possible. She’ll alsomake sure that legal and intellectual proper-ty issues have been explored by EMBL’slegal advisor and EMBLEM.

“Once the contract is signed, there’s nothingmore satisfying than calling up my col-leagues in the Budget Office and lettingthem know that we’ve got another grant in,”smiles Genevieve.

The EMBL International PhDProgramme brochure for 2005 is now available.To get a copy, sendan email to predocs@embl.de.As of this year, applications will beonline.

A test phase will run until the endof August. Input and suggestionsare warmly invited.

7

body, EMBC, in 1970 and the establishmentof EMBL in 1974 – the primary objective ofthe EMBO founders. The shared history ofthese three partner organisations is groundsfor further celebration in November thisyear, when EMBO, EMBC and EMBL jointlycelebrate their 40th, 35th and 30th anniver-saries.

Reports from EMBO members on theirresearch and discoveries past and presenthighlighted the advancement of Europeanmolecular biology over the years and therole of EMBO in its development. Cell biolo-gy, microbiology, structural biology, plantbiology, neurobiology, immunology, devel-opmental biology and most recently systemsbiology are all now established disciplines ofmolecular biology, all of them representedby EMBO members.

The 40th anniversary event also showcasedEMBO’s more recent activities – the launchof the EMBO Journal in the ’80s; EMBO lec-

tures, sectoral meetings and the Science andSociety Programme in the ’90s; and since2000, the launch of EMBO reports, the YoungInvestigator Programme, the ElectronicInformation Programme, the WorldProgramme and activities supportingwomen in science. Open discussion on thefinal day of the meeting looked to the futureof EMBO. A lively exchange on EMBO’s rolein European research ensued, with particu-lar emphasis on the prospect of a EuropeanResearch Council.

They say life begins at 40 – a fitting motto forEMBO as it moves forward. So much hasbeen achieved over the past four decades,yet there is still so much to strive for. As the40th anniversary festivities reached their cli-max in a spectacular firework display atSchloss Auerbach near Heidelberg, themood in the air was very much that the bestis yet to come.

– Frank Gannon

the

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Clockwise from left: Peter Goodfellow listens in; EMBO Executive Directors past and present (RaymondAppleyard, John Tooze, Frank Gannon); Grand finale at Schloss Auerbach; Lively discussion (Ronald Plasterk,Chris Leaver, Gottfried Schatz)

EMBO celebrates the big “4-0”Rumour has it the big ‘4-0’ is not so big as itused to be. It seems 40 is young by today’sstandards – and even more so in the life of ascientific organisation. Nonetheless, at 40years ‘young’, EMBO could not let this mile-stone pass by without proper celebration.

And celebrate they did at the EMBO 40thAnniversary Meeting on June 18-20 atEMBO in Heidelberg. EMBO members flewin from all over Europe to participate.Amongst them were many familiar faces –the first two Executive Directors of EMBO,Raymond Appleyard and John Tooze; manyof EMBO’s founding members; 5 of EMBO’s36 Nobel Prize winners; Wilhelm Krull,Secretary General of the VolkswagenFoundation; Peter Goodfellow, Senior VicePresident of Discovery Research at Glaxo-SmithKline; and of course, EMBC President,Marja Makarow and EMBL Director-General, Fotis Kafatos. Fond tributes werepaid to EMBO’s first chairman, Max Perutz,and first Secretary General, John Kendrew,who sadly are no longer with us.

During 3 days of presentations, discussionsand festivities, EMBO took a look back at itsorigins and milestones in its history – theearly days of the EMBO fellowships fundedinitially by the Volkswagen Foundation, theformation of the intergovernmental funding

Earlier this year, EMBL PhD student FabianFilipp switched off his computer and headedto Genoa, Italy. His plan was to meet up witha group of philiosophy, social science andlaw students – something rather unusual forbiochemist. He was taking part in a week-long course on biotechnology ethics, organ-ized by the "BioTEthics" group and fundedby the EC under the Quality of LifeProgramme.

The conference drew together students andexperts from a variety of disciplines to dis-cuss ethics in biotechnology. “As a studentworking in basic research in the life sciences,I wanted to get an update about appliedethics as well as juridical regulations inbiotechnology.” Other participants includedstudents from the humanities, who oftenhave a compulsory bioethics component oftheir graduate studies. This opportunityallowed them to interact one-on-one withscientists.

Fabian is no stranger to multidisciplinarydiscussions about science. As a student inEMBL’s International PhD programme hehas participated in many of the Lab’s Scienceand Society activities, including a PhDcourse component which recognizes theneed to expose students to the ethical frame-work of their daily research. “Although thePhD course’s one-day-introduction gives agood taste of the importance of ethical issuesin our research,” says Fabian, “many stu-dents would benefit from gaining a deeperknowledge of ethical theory and practice.Courses like the one I attended provide agreat opportunity for this.”

One particularly useful session, says Fabian,allowed students from the different disci-plines to gather in small working groups.They used their different backgrounds todevelop ethical perspectives on real casestudies, for example, nuclear transfer. If ahuman somatic nucleus is transferred into

rabbit oocytes, how would you classify thecells that would develop? What is the judi-cial status of these embryos? “It was a chal-lenging assignment, especially since to makeany progress we first had to learn eachother’s languages,” says Fabian. “One mes-sage that developed during the course wasthat questions like these might not alwayshave clear cut answers; it’s up to peopleworking in different parts of society (law,science, health, etc.) to establish a dialogueso they can begin to ask the right questions.”

The course is part of a three-year initiativewhich aims to improve the education ofEuropean doctoral students in the field ofbioethics. The next one will take place inOxford in the spring of 2005 and will focuson Bioethics and Public Perception ofBiotechnology. Find out more atwww.biotethics.org

European Course on Biotechnology Ethics gives EMBL PhD Student food for thoughtP

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Issue 22 - August 2004

In a break in the rehearsal, the flute playerdisassembled her instrument to run a clean-ing rod through it, and asked the violinist ifhe couldn't help her take some nice electronmicroscope pictures of microtubules. A(very tall) bioinformaticist warmed up at thekeyboards, as a (very tall) chemical biologygroup leader strapped on his bass guitar,and the research technician slipped off toput on a slinky red dress so that she couldcroon the night away.

If any of this sounds incongruous, you're outof the loop on the culture scene atHeidelberg, where music has been bustingout all over. In February, members of the Lablaunched a music club which now has 41members and is sure to grow. The group hasput on two concerts, provided music for theopening of the Electron Microscope Facility,and will certainly make an appearance atEMBL's alumni events in the fall.

A year ago, PhD students Caroline Lemerle(piano, violin, etc.) and Maiwen Caudron(flute) approached Director-General FotisKafatos (whose part in the orchestra hasn'tyet been assigned, although there have beensome recent, legendary incidences of singingand dancing) about launching the club.High on the wish list was obtaining a pianofor the Lab – a lot of scientists play, but apiano is hard to bring along on internationalor intercontinental moves. “Fotis was verysupportive but made it clear that we wouldhave to come up with the money ourselves,”Caroline says.

What better way to raise money than withconcerts? The first program (March 5)offered music ranging from Mozart toKodaly to Michael Nyman, featuring 15 labmembers on the flute, violin, guitar, celloand piano. The second concert added avocal number, stretching the repertoire frommodern jazz back to the medieval andBaroque periods. Nobody is likely to forgetthe tangled “Story of Tango,” from Maiwenon the flute and Sebastian Ulbert on the gui-tar, or the infinitely-accelerating “HungarianCsárdás” whittled out by Sebastian andGaspar Jekely, or the dark chords ofProkofiev's fourth sonata struck by SarahKafatou, or Simone Riedinger’s perform-ance of arias by Puccini and Mozart, orMassimiliano Mazza's soulful rendition of“La valse d’Amelie.”

Proceeds from the concerts, topped up bygenerous donations from across EMBL,amounted to more than enough to secure thelease on a piano. It now sits in the Operon,ready for use in the intermissions of semi-nars and conferences. Now the only prob-lem is finding time to practice, a daily strug-gle for students like Massimiliano who haveto balance their artistic instincts with the rig-ors of doing a PhD. “I'm working on a pieceby Chopin,” he says. “It's very hard. I canonly learn a measure a day.” A sigh. “It'snine pages long!” Another sigh. “But I'vealways loved that piece.”

To find out about upcoming concerts andother music-related events, get your nameon the mailing list by contactinglemerle@embl.de.

Chromatic chromatin, medaka obligato, and the ion channel blues

What you missed (or maybe you didn’t!) at the annual EMBL-Staff Association summer party

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la la-la-la-la, la la-la-la-la,Gloria in excelsis Deo...

Joining most choirs doesn’t requiregetting your passport checked, butthat’s what happened as Alan Sawyertried to slip past the Swiss Guards intothe Vatican. Alan, Head of the EMBLMonoclonal Core Facility at theMonterotondo Outstation, was report-ing to sing his first Mass with the Corodella Cappella Giulia (Choir of the JuliaChapel) on the Feast of Saint Peter,June 29. Immediately afterwards, hehigh-tailed it back to the Outstation intime to give a tour of the facility toCouncil members attending the sum-mer meeting in Rome.

Maiwen Caudron and Sebastian Ulbert unplugged.

Once upon a time, in the EBI courtyard, anew member of staff, not knowing anybetter, thought it would be a good idea toset-up a bird table to feed our featheredfriends.

The site authorities saw the bird-table andcomplained that it contravened livestock atwork regulations.

Some staff complained that the table wasencouraging the wrong sort of bird, such asmagpies, to visit the courtyard.

Some staff queried why the bird-tablewasn’t subsidised like the one inHeidelberg?

Some staff complained about the noise of thebird-song and how they could no longerwork with their windows open.

Some staff complained that the bird-tablewas a distraction from the research andservice provision of the Institute and createda bad impression to visitors.

And some staff complained about all of theabove.

Some staff said how wonderful it was tohear bird-song. How joyous to help ourfeathered friends increase their numbers.

Some staff said what a positive image itcreated for the EBI, and how it helped makethe place feel warm and caring.

The Administrator sighed. It was just somuch more guano.

Discussion and debate ensued in corridors,over coffee, via e-mail. Argument andcounter-argument raged back and forth. It

even reached the ears of the Director-General, arriving for a Senior Scientistsmeeting. And it was decided to hold a grandconvocation of all the EMBL senior scientiststo agree what should be done with the bird-table in the centre of the courtyard.

And all through this the member of staffwho had put up the bird-table continued tofeed our feathered friends and to enjoy thebird-song. The Administrator watched as aswallow dived to the bird-table and thought“now there’s a conundrum. Where would aswallow’s home base be? In the UK wherethey spend six months of the year, or inNorth Africa where they spend the other sixmonths? Tricky.”

And the Senior Scientists talked andthought, and thought and talked until thecows, that had quietly been chewing cud inthe field, had walked all the way home. Andthe only thing that interrupted theirdiscussions was the loud and incessant dinof the fire alarms as they were tested overand over again. And then the SeniorScientists repaired to the bar where theytalked and thought, and thought and talkedsome more.

And this is what they decided:

1) The bird table would be extended toinclude a hen-house

2) The new arrangement would be used forChickens only

3) The fire alarms would be replaced by theChickens.

The dream of chickens – a modern fairy tale4) It would be funded by Ewan Birney’s

Chicken Genome research grants

5) The chickens, once raised, would bepassed to the kitchens of the staff canteen

6) Responsibility for clearing guano wouldremain with the administrator.

This pleased the site authorities who wereasked to advise on livestock regulations andbenefited from the supply of cheap chickensfor the staff canteens. No-one complainedabout the noise of the chickens any more aseven the cock crowing at its loudest was adamn sight quieter than the fire alarms. Thecost of construction and bird-food were metby research funds, so free to staff. The birdtable and hen-house was formallydesignated an avian research facility,thereby making it a legitimate source ofinterest and distraction. And everyone wasinvited to the Grand Opening Ceremonyand had a good time.

And the Administrator, who often had totake work home with him, found a use forthe guano in his back garden. His roses arecoming on a treat.

So, gentle reader, as with all good fairy tales,everyone lived happily ever afterwards.

– Mark Green

EMBLEM goes to BIO 2004In the beginning of June, EMBLEM, thecommercial subsidiary of EMBL, exhibitedat “Bio 2004,” the annual international con-vention of the Biotechnology IndustryOrganization. The largest annual biotech-nology event in the world, this year’s Bioevent in San Francisco attracted over 16,000participants and 1,375 exhibitors frommore than 30 countries.

Attendees included nearly all large phar-maceutical companies as well as a virtual“who’s who” of the biotech industry. Manycame by to visit the EMBLEM booth andfind out about the latest from the Lab, giv-ing EMBLEM an important opportunity topromote EMBL’s research to a broad vari-ety of potential customers and opinion

leaders, including journalists, politiciansand investors. Among the visitors to theEMBLEM booth was German Vice-ConsulHansjörg Deng.

“Interest in EMBL technologies aboundsand the event helped EMBLEM build newbusiness relations, foster key accounts andtouch base with our strategic partners fromscience and business,” says DeputyManaging Director Martin Raditsch. “Bio2004 impressively demonstrated that thedifficult conditions of recent years may becoming to an end and that at least in theUS, the biotech industry has matured into abooming part of the health-care industry.”

– Gabor Lamm

EMBLEM’s Martin Raditsch (left) and new busi-ness development manager Holger Schwarz(right) take a photobreak between business meet-ings at the EMBLEM booth at Bio 2004.

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EMBL&cetera Issue 22 - August 2004

A day in the life of the Staff Association

Four years ago, Davide Corona, freshlyhatched from the EMBL International PhDProgramme, packed up his belongings andwith his wife Maria Crisci (quite pregnant atthe time) left Heidelberg for the sunnyshores of California and a postdoctoralposition at the Universityof Santa Cruz.

Davide, like his EMBLclassmates, is no stranger tomoving about. When itcomes to being a scientist,mobility is a way of life.Students often find them-selves moving halfway acrossthe continent – or even theworld – in search of the perfectpostdoc position that will helpthem gain experience and estab-lish reputations as great scien-tists.

When Davide started studying science as ateenager in his hometown of Palermo, Italy,he had little idea his passion would take himon an eight-year journey which wouldinclude a stop on the other side of theAtlantic. After receiving undergraduatetraining at the University of Palermo in 1995,Davide and Maria arrived at EMBLHeidelberg so that Davide could begin hisPhD degree. He spent four years workingwith group leader Peter Becker on chromatinremodeling. After EMBL it was on to SantaCruz, where Davide took up a postdoc posi-tion in John Tamkun’s lab. Soon after theirarrival in California little Matteo was soonborn – followed by Marco two years later.Now the Corona family are coming full cir-cle, and will move back to Italy whereDavide will soon take up an assistant profes-sorship at the San Raffaele Institute in Milan.

“The most enriching aspect of my researchexperience abroad was to be exposed to dif-ferent cultures, experiences and life styles,”says Davide. “Young researchers far from

home might find it difficultto integrate into a newcountry and a new sys-tem – but it’s definitelyworthwhile. A fewyears of trainingabroad teaches you alot, both scientificallyand culturally. Ifound it extremelyexciting and veryconstructive.”

In addition to gettingused to super-sized

jugs of milk in the supermarketsand giant buckets of popcorn at the cinema(not to mention those pesky pre-recordedmessages that bandy you about from opera-tor to operator when you dial 1-800 num-bers), Davide and Maria had to adapt to awhole new way of doing things. One earlychallenge for them was to obtain healthinsurance. “Maria was pregnant when wearrived,” says Davide. “Insurance compa-nies considered her to have a ‘pre-existingcondition’ and refused to cover her. This wassomething completely new for us – we wereused to the open model of health coverage inEurope. It caused a lot of stress, but eventu-ally my boss helped to solve the problemthrough the University’s benefits office.”

Scientifically, moving around presents itsown challenges, Davide acknowledges.“Very often the lack of research positions inyour home country make the decision to gettraining abroad a ‘one-way ticket,’ especiallyif you have cut ties with the institute where

you received your undergraduate training.When I left Italy I thought that returning todo research in a qualified position would bevirtually impossible.” Fortunately, Davidewas wrong. Thanks to the programmes offunding agencies such as the GiovanniArmenise-Harvard Foundation, Telethonand HFSP, which aim to support younginvestigators at the beginning of their scien-tific careers in their home country, Davidehas secured a position as a junior investiga-tor at the San Raffaele Institute in Milan. InSeptember he and Maria will once againpack up their belongings, and with Matteoand Marco in tow, they’ll head back to Italy.

“I really hope that the joint effort betweenmy host institute and my funding agencieswill result in a scientifically productive peri-od where I can finally give back the know-how I gained over this eight years ofresearch abroad,” says Davide.

In his new position he will focus his researchon the role of chromatin modifications inhuman diseases. DNA, in higher organismslike humans, is associated with regulatoryproteins in a dynamic structure called chro-matin. Certain modifications of chromatinallow the DNA to be accessible to factorsthat “read” its information. It is now clearthat alteration of “patterns” of chromatinmodifications underlie many human dis-eases. He’ll use the fruit fly Drosophilamelanogaster as a model system to molecular-ly dissect some of the most interesting chro-matin modifications that may be at the ori-gin of human diseases.

Curious to know what your former colleaguesare up to? Find out at the EMBL AlumniAssociation Reunion, November 26-28, 2004,at EMBL-Heidelberg. Register now atwww.embl.org/aboutus/alumni/reunion04

Although you may not be aware of this,keeping an eye on the interests of EMBL staffkeeps your representatives to the StaffAssociation hopping. Here what a day inone of our lives sometimes looks like:

7:00 Arrive at Lab early to get somelab work done

7:15 Answer first e-mails concern-ing Staff Association business

8:30-9:00 Attend subcommittee meetingto discuss pensioners’ HIS con-tributions

9:00-9:15 Attempt to go for coffee, way-laid by Staff Association col-league to discuss cost-cuttingsituation at Kinderhaus

9:15-9:30 Second attempt at coffee,stopped in foyer by staff mem-ber needing advice on leavingindemnities

9:30-9:45 Give up on coffee and go backto desk; too late to begin work-ing now

10:00 –12:00 Attend weekly StaffAssociation committee meeting(ah, coffee!). Fifteen points onthe agenda again, meetinggoes overtime as usual

12:30-13:00 Grab a quick lunch. Joined bymember of Administrationwanting to discuss long-termcare insurance

13:00-14:00 Answer more e-mails and mul-titask while working on docu-ments related to StaffAssociation

14:00-15:00 Attend subcommittee meetingon revising the StaffAssociation statutes

15:00-15:15 Actually make it to cafeteriafor afternoon coffee break!Someone stops at table with a

“quick question about termina-tion of his contract”

15:15-15:30 Help staff member look upregulations and give advice onhow to proceed

16:00-17:00 Attend subcommittee meetingto prepare presentation toCouncil (or to one of the threeworking groups: HIS,Revisions to the Rules andRegulations and Terms andConditions of Employment)

17:00-22:00 Finally sit down to work onown projects, colleagues haveall gone home

OK, we’ve exaggerated things, but we dooccasionally have days like this. StaffAssociation representatives are constantlyworking behind the scenes, even when itappears that nothing is happening. And seri-ously, folks, we’re always glad to help ourcolleagues with their problems!

– Ann Thüringer

Full circle: after eight years abroad, EMBL alumnus Davide Corona returns to Italy

EMBL alumnus Davide Corona

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news&events

Dive Club takes Waldpiraten kids on an underwater adventure

In July, members of EMBL’s Dive Cluborganized their annual “try dive” session forkids participating in the Waldpiraten camp(run by the German Children’s CancerOrganization and located across the streetfrom EMBL-Heidelberg). This event has nowbecome a fixed item, and a clear favourite, inthe list of activities the children take part inwhilst at their summer camp.

Because so many kids wanted to participate(24 this year, plus their minders!), we splitup the dives into two sessions of 12 childreneach.

A few days before each dive we met with ouryoung, soon-to-be divers over at the camp.We arranged them in a line, shortest totallest, to figure out what sizes of equipmentthey would need. We borrowed masks, finsand wetsuits from members of the club andwere ready to go. On the days of the dives,

the club’s kit room was buzzing with activi-ty as volunteer divers and EMBL driversloaded up the equipment into the Lab’s vansand headed toward the swimming pool inKetsch.

The camp welcomes children from all overEurope who are recovering from cancer, andthis year there was a strong Italian contin-gent. This posed a special challenge: we hadto translate our pre-dive briefing intoItalian... (Does anyone know the word for“compressed air tank” in Italian?) Once wesolved this little problem our instructorstook the kids down one by one. Needless tosay, all had great time, even the littleAustrian girl who did not want to dive withan Englishman... bless her!

– Corinna, Pete and the EMBL Dive Club

Here’s what you need to know...

Information on personal pages: Staff cannow decide which information appears ontheir individual pages. For example, you candecide whether your full email address isshown to external users or whether there isjust a link to a tool which does not revealyour email address; whether your phonenumber is shown to external users; orwhether your photograph is shown tointernal and external users, only to internalusers or not at all.

To change the settings, go to your personalpage (you can get there by entering yourname into the search field at the top right ofany page and following the link to yourname), and click on the “Edit page” link atthe bottom. If you are at EMBL-Heidelberg,log on with your user name and password. Ifyou are at one of the external Units, click on

“log in via email”. The system will send youan email with a link to authenticate you –click on this link.

Once you’ve logged in, click on “edit someinfo on your official person page,” changethe settings as you wish, and update. It’s assimple as that. Oh, and don’t forget to logout by following the “menu” link in the topright corner.

New Heidelberg Visitors Programmeservice: Applications from visitorsinterested in coming to EMBL are now puton the intranet for group leaders to check ona regular basis. Take a look atwww.embl.org/staffonly/services/visitorsprogramme/recent_applications.html. Ifyou are interested in hosting a visitor, pleasecontact the Office of the Visitors Programme(Stephanie Weil, ext. 8276, room 408).

Belarussian journalist UladzimirBaranich spent the week of June 20-25 atEMBL-Heidelberg as part of the “Euro-pean Initiative for Communicators ofScience” (EICOS) programme. This initia-tive is designed to improve communica-tion between researchers and journalists,and to promote feedback from the generalpublic to the scientific community.Uladzimir first spent a week in the“Hands-on Laboratory,” run by the MaxPlanck Institute for Biophysical Chemistryin Göttingen, before coming to EMBL.

In July, as in years past, EMBL wel-comed students from Heidelberg’sInternational Summer School, a scienceprogramme that brings in freshly graduat-ed high school students from theHeidelberg partner cities across the world.This year’s group of 14 young people gotan insider’s look at science and molecularbiology including a day-long stay withGareth Griffiths group, followed by cakeand questions.

EMBL Alumna Zsusza Bôsze has beenbusy recently helping to organize the 30thFEBS Congress and 9th IUBMBConference, to be held in Budapest,Hungary on July 2-7 2005. “The meetingpromises to be a hotspot for the latest inprotein research,” says Zsusza, “and agood place to meet up with many of yourformer EMBL colleagues.” She invites youto register for the meeting at www.febs-iubmb-2005.com

An update on www.embl.org

A symposium at the EBI (November 22-23,2004) will focus on alternative splicing, amajor mechanism generating diversity in thehuman transcriptome. Its regulation iscomplex and is an important means ofphysiological control. Its disruption isassociated with many diseases, includingcancer, multiple sclerosis, heart failure andneurodegenerative disorders.

The increasing recognition that alternativesplicing is an important way of controllinggene expression has spawned several large-scale efforts to create bioinformaticsresources on alternate transcripts andprotein isoforms. These include:computational methods and tools todelineate and characterise alternatetranscript structures; databases of alternate

transcripts and protein isoforms; andannotations that describe the physiology,pathology and evolution of alternatetranscript generation.

These efforts require community-basedcollaborations involving bioinformaticians,computational and experimental biologists,and pharmaceutical researchers. “AlternateTranscript Diversity: Data, Biology andTherapeutics,” in November, will bringtogether the community to discuss resourcesfor alternative splicing.

On-line registration and abstractsubmission is now open and moreinformation can be found atwww.ebi.ac.uk/Information/events/atd-sympo

– Paul Matthews

EBI to host symposium on alternate transcript diversity

Time is the river which carries me away,but I am that river; time is the tiger that devours me, but I am that tiger

– J. L. Borges, Labyrinths, 1970

Register now for the 5th EMBL/EMBO Joint Conference:

“Time and aging,mechanisms and

meanings“

5-6 November 2004, at EMBL-Heidelberg

www.embl.org/aboutus/sciencesociety

EEMMBBLL@people

@EMBLevents

EMBL&cetera Issue 22 - August 2004

28 August - 1 September, 2004EMBL-Heidelberg6th EMBL Transcription Meeting

25-29 September, 2004EMBL-HeidelbergEMBO Workshop on the Cell Biology of VirusInfection

7 October, 2004, 14.30 EMBL-Heidelberg, Entrepreneur Seminar Series: Rudy Dekeyser, VIB, BelgiumA Virtual Institute Creates Real Science andTechnology: The VIB Model

14 October, 2004, 16.00EMBL-HeidelbergDistinguished Visitor LectureDon Cleveland, Ludwig Institute for CancerResearch, Univ. California San Diego, USA

16-19 October, 2004EMBL-HeidelbergEMBL/EMBO Functional Genomics ConferenceII: Exploring the Edges of Omics

10-13 November, 2004EMBO Conference on Structures inBiologyEMBL-Heidelberg

For more events, see www-db.embl.de/jss/EmblGroupsOrg/t_1

EMBL&cetera is published by EMBL’s Office of Information and Public Affairs, Meyerhofstrasse 1, D-69117 Heidelberg, e-mail: info@embl.de. Onlineversion available at http://www.embl.org/aboutus/news/publications/newsletter.html. Editor: Sarah Sherwood; Assistant Editor: Trista Dawson;Editorial Advisor: Russ Hodge. Copy editing: Caroline Hadley. Photographic support: EMBL Photolab; Graphics support: Petra Riedinger. Printed onrecycled paper by ColorDruck, Leimen.

faculty and other appointments Elisa Izaurralde (Gene Expression) has been appointed Senior Scientist. Stefan Fiedler hasbeen appointed Staff Scientist at EMBL-Hamburg.

There’s a new face in the DG’s office: Olivera Mandic has joined as a Deputy PersonalAssistant, taking over from Manuela Brunner who left at the end of July to pursue a careerin photography. We wish Manu well in her new adventures!

Alison Barker (EBI Administration),Isabelle Behm-Ansmant (Izaurralde),Rochus Börner (Frangakis), NataschaBushati (Cohen), Melanie Courtot(Computational Neurobiology), SilkeEckert (Cohen), Stefan Fiedler (Hermes),Javier Herrero (Birney), Nico Kümmerer(Serrano), Per Lilja (Array Express),Jacinta Lodge (Wilmanns), OliveraMandic (DG Office), Angelika Scholz(Suck), Ilka Singer (EMBLEM), JensStolte (Genomics Core Facility)

Who’s new?

&ceteraawards, honours

EMBL alumnus and current Director of the MPI for Molecular Genetics in Berlin MartinVingron, has received the Max Planck Research Prize for 2004, together with Eugene Myers(University of California, Berkeley, USA). The 750,000 Euro prize was awarded in the field ofbioinformatics. The purpose of this major distinction, which is given collectively by theAlexander von Humboldt-Stiftung and the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, is to promote high-cal-ibre projects between German and foreign scientists. It should permit the researchers to carryout, deepen and expand international cooperative efforts; it is also intended to call attentionto specific disciplines in hopes that the community will follow the lead.

from the photo archives

Kids from the Blue Group at EMBL’s Kinderhaus tell a lot of stories around the table aboutGrandpa and Grandma, cousins, mums, dads and siblings. The Kindergarten staff used thisas a starting point for the “Family Project.” Children visited each other at home, learnedsongs and poems about families and, of course, drew pictures. On the left is the Bork/Wadefamily; on the right are the Reunis/Roberts-Baldwins. Guess who is who...

what’s new in the kinderhaus?

Former Director-General Lennart Philipson(left) lays the foundation stone for EMBL-Heidelberg’s Operon Auditorium in thisphoto dating back to 1987.

This July the Operon turned 17 years old,while Lennart turned 75.

Happy birthday, Lennart!