Family-Friendly, Flexible And Far-Reaching

EMBO fellowships extend eligibility criteria to promote equal opportunities

The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) today announced pioneering new eligibility criteria for its long-term and short-term fellowships. The new criteria cater for applicants with childcare commitments and scientists returning to work after a career break for childcare reasons. Further amendments aim to attract applicants from outside Europe and to encourage international mobility and collaboration.

The new eligibility criteria represent an integration of the fellowships formerly offered under the EMBO Restart Programme and EMBO World Programme. All applications for these fellowships will now be dealt with as part of the EMBO Fellowship Programme application procedure.

Long-term fellowships

Changes to the long-term fellowship eligibility criteria reflect EMBO’s long-standing commitment to promoting gender equality and fostering family-friendly conditions in research:

Applicants with childcare commitments can now apply to carry out their 2-year fellowship over a period of up to 3 years. The aim is to give candidates the flexibility to complete their fellowship on a part-time or combined part-time/full-time basis.

Candidates who have interrupted their careers for at least 1 year due to childcare commitments can now apply to take up a fellowship within their current country of residence. Previously this was only possible if the applicant had been resident in the country for less than 3 months.

Bi-annual application deadline: February 15, August 15

Short-term fellowships

Short-term fellowships offer candidates the opportunity to work in laboratories outside their home countries for a period of up to 3 months. New additions to the short-term fellowship eligibility criteria aim to remove geographical boundaries from applications and promote collaboration in research. Previously movement was only possible between European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC) member states:

Candidates from non-member states can now apply to take up fellowships in EMBC member states. The main objective of this move is to bring benefit to the candidate’s home laboratory and promote collaboration. Candidates from developing countries and emerging economies may in very exceptional circumstances have the opportunity to extend their fellowship to a period of up to 6 months.

Candidates from EMBC member states can now apply for short-term fellowships in non-member states.

Rolling application deadline: Applications accepted throughout the year.