EMBO announces new Young Investigators

5 December 2023 – 26 scientists have been selected to join the EMBO Young Investigator Programme, an initiative that supports excellent young group leaders in the early stages of their independent careers.

Starting in January 2024, the new EMBO Young Investigators will receive a wide range of financial and practical support. Their research topics include detailing the mechanisms underlying serious health conditions, exploring the evolution of multicellular life, and investigating how interactions amongst sea creatures impact carbon capture in the oceans.

Fiona Watt, EMBO Director said: “Connections made early in your career can play a defining role in your scientific journey, regardless of the chosen path. The Young Investigator Programme aims to catalyze such interactions by offering scientists opportunities to build international networks and explore different ways of doing science. The exceptional young scientists joining the programme will, no doubt, have a tremendous impact in their respective research fields in the years ahead.”

Of the 26 researchers who will join the EMBO Young Investigator Programme, 12 are women (46%) and 14 are men (54%). They are based in eight Member States of the EMBC, the intergovernmental organization that funds the main EMBO Programmes and activities, along with India.

Through the EMBO Young Investigator Programme, participants have access to a wide range of benefits, including networking opportunities, training in leadership skills and responsible research practices, support for lab members, and access to core facilities at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL).

Young Investigators receive an award of 15,000 euros in the second year of their tenure and can apply for additional funding of up to 10,000 euros per year. Travel grants and mentorship opportunities are amongst many other benefits. 

The new EMBO Young Investigators join a community of more than 700 current and former EMBO Young Investigators, Installation Grantees and Global Investigators. The new intake expands the current enrollment on the EMBO Young Investigator Programme to 151 researchers.

The EMBO Young Investigator Programme had a success rate of 13% in 2023. Eligible candidates must have less than four years’ experience in independent research positions at the time of application and have an excellent track record of scientific achievements. 

Research must be carried out in an EMBC Member State, an EMBC Associate Member State (currently India and Singapore), or in countries or territories covered by a co-operation agreement (currently Taiwan and Chile). For further details about the programme, including eligibility criteria and the application process, please visit: www.embo.org/funding/fellowships-grants-and-career-support/young-investigator-programme

New EMBO Young Investigators

	Name	Project title	Affiliation	Institute location
	Alejandro Burga	The impact of genomic conflict and selfish elements on molecular innovation	Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences	Vienna, AT
	Alexander Borodavka	Unlocking RNA secrets: How viruses build their segmented RNA genomes	University of Cambridge	Cambridge, GB
	Ana Banito	Understanding sarcoma biology to improve the outcome of pediatric patients	German Cancer Research Center	Heidelberg, DE
	Aude Bernheim	Exploring the conservation of anti-viral defense across domains of life	Institut Pasteur	Paris, FR
	Aurélie Ernst	Deciphering the molecular mechanisms underlying chromothripsis	German Cancer Research Center	Heidelberg, DE
	Aydan Bulut Karslioglu	Decoding the cellular transition in and out of dormancy	Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics	Berlin, DE
	Benjamin Towbin	Growth control from cells to organisms	University of Bern, Institute of Cell Biology	Bern, CH
	Bruno Hudry	The importance of cellular sex in physiology and the underlying mechanisms	Institute of Biology Valrose	Nice, FR
	Charlotte Odendall	From danger to action: calcium and interferon at the host pathogen interface	King's College London	London, GB
	David Haselbach	Adaptation of molecular machines to cellular context and tasks	Research Institute of Molecular Pathology	Vienna, AT
	Einat Segev	Molecular mechanisms of microbial interactions in a biogeochemical context	Weizmann Institute of Science	Rehovot, IL
	Eva Maria Novoa	Epitranscriptomics and RNA dynamics	Centre for Genomic Regulation	Barcelona, ES
	Francesca Mattiroli	Mechanism of chromatin assembly during DNA replication	Hubrecht Institute	Utrecht, NL
	Gaurav Ahuja	Functional elucidation of the dark molecules of life	Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Dehli	New Delhi, IN
	Georg Hochberg	Unravelling biochemical history by resurrecting ancient proteins	Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology	Marburg, DE
	Hassan Salem	Host adaptation in light of symbiont metabolic variation	Max Planck Institute for Biology	Tübingen, DE
	James Lightfoot	Investigating the evolution of behavioural traits: from genes to circuits	Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior	Bonn, DE
	Jan Schuller	CO2 fixation and energy conservation in the ancient Wood-Ljungdahl pathway	The Philipps University of Marburg	Marburg, DE
	Leif Ludwig	Clonal dynamics, fate and somatic mitochondrial evolution in human hematopoiesis	Berlin Institute of Health at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Max-Delbrück-Center Berlin	Berlin, DE
	Marieke Oudelaar	Genome organization and regulation	Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences	Göttingen, DE
	Miriam Stoeber	Spatiotemporal logic of GPCR signal transduction	University of Geneva	Geneva, CH
	Naomi Moris	DEMOs: Developmental models for understanding mammalian embryogenesis	The Francis Crick Institute	London, GB
	Omaya Dudin	Pre-metazoan mechanisms of multicellular development	Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)	Lausanne, CH
	Payam Gammage	Defining the role of mtDNA mutation in cancer	University of Glasgow and the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute	Glasgow, GB
	Rejane Rua	Immunosurveillance of the central nervous system	Centre d’Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy	Marseille, FR
	Tommaso Patriarchi	A new optogenetic toolbox to unravel the brain mechanisms of depression	University of Zurich	Zurich, CH