9 April 2018 – “The institute had offered to pay my accommodation, so I was looking for other funding for the travel” explains de Lorenzo. “Fortunately, during the discussions with Tapan Dutta, my host at the institute, I remembered that EMBO provides funds for its members to give lectures.”
In addition to keynote lectures by EMBO Members and research lectures by Young Investigators, EMBO also finances the Global Exchange Lecture Series scheme. As part of its initiatives to promote interactions between scientists worldwide, EMBO funds lecture series presented by EMBO Members and Young Investigators at institutes in non-European countries and – in return – by prominent researchers based outside Europe at European institutes.
Sharing information and making connections
Victor de Lorenzo received support for a Global Exchange Lecture Series after he was approached to give a second lecture in India. Guhan Jayaraman and Himanshu Sinha at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in Chennai invited him to speak as the inaugural lecturer in the new Systems Biology programme. In both locations he presented his own research but also talked about EMBO.
“I felt that both visits to Chennai and Kolkata were very successful,” says de Lorenzo. In addition to having lots of interaction with faculty, he was able to speak with many students, who were interested in a range of topics from EMBO Fellowships, Courses & Workshops and the Young Investigator Programme to more general topics such as career development and gender issues in science.
“Indian researchers are determined to put their country on the map of frontline molecular biology,” adds de Lorenzo. “And in that sense, it was a very productive and rewarding trip for me also. I met a lot of young, amazingly talented people, raising smart questions and proposing ideas—it was truly inspirational.”
EMBO Members and Young Investigators interested in giving lecture series in Chile, India, Singapore or Taiwan should get in touch with the Global Activities office.
