Application
About
These courses are designed to promote the transfer of new methods and emerging techniques to a broad number of laboratories. The primary objective is to enable participating students to implement newly learned techniques in their home laboratories. Approximately 20 participants (generally young postdoctoral researchers and advanced PhD students) should be accepted. EMBO Practical courses are to take place in an EMBC Member State.
Funding
The maximum funding provided by EMBO for a practical course is 30,000 euro. Decisions on the amount of funding are made on a case by case basis. Organizers are therefore required to justify all major costs in the budget section of the application form.
EMBO funds should cover:
• travel (Apex / Economy), accommodation and subsistence costs of the instructors
• accommodation and subsistence costs of the students
• reasonable administration costs
How to apply
EMBO Practical Courses must be held in an EMBC Member States. The application process is handled via the online application system.
Each application is reviewed by two members of the EMBO Course Committee and the final decision is made at the biannual Course Committee meeting. Applicants are informed of the decision in April and October for 1 February and 1 August calls, respectively. All applications are treated in confidence and only publicized following acceptance of the funding conditions by the organizer. All correspondence concerning applications should be conducted with the EMBO office ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). Any attempts to influence the decision process by contacting individual members of the Committee will result in disqualification of the application.
Annual application deadlines: 1 February and 1 August for meetings planned for the following year.
Format
Planning
When planning the course, organizers are advised to:
• encourage students to bring their own materials (where appropriate)
• provide students with theoretical background material with selected references, in addition to the programme, well in advance of the course.
• ensure that instructors give a briefing at the beginning of each day
• ensure that instructors and speakers stay for the entire duration of the course
• ensure that accommodation for instructors and students is in the same facility
• include round table discussions in the course programme
• include poster sessions in the programme
Registration fees
As a rule, students are only expected to pay for their travel costs. However, should a registration fee need to be charged, it should not exceed 400 euro for practical courses at least five days, or 250 euro for practical courses less than five days in length. The registration fee should preferably be waived for students from less favoured regions. A fee of 1,000 euro should be charged to participants from industry. This should be paid directly to the organizer and included as income in the final financial statement.
Instructors & Participants
When selecting instructors and participants, organizers are requested to ensure a wide geographical representation of scientists. EMBO requests that organizers ensure a good gender balance. Organizers are strongly encouraged to aim for a minimum of 30% female representation when selecting instructors (justification for significantly lower numbers must be provided).
There should be no substantial bias towards the host country. At least two-thirds of the participants should be based in an EMBC Member States.
Lectures
Course instructors will normally give lectures on the theoretical basis and applications of the techniques being taught. These lectures are strictly for the course participants. It may, however, be appropriate to invite instructors to deliver additional research seminars to the wider local research community. These lectures should be completely separate from the practical course, which should be a coherent, full-time programme of activities reserved for the participants.
Poster sessions
When planning poster sessions, organizers should ensure that:
• these are in close proximity to where lectures are being held
• the display room is spacious and bright enough
• these sessions are not held at the end of the day
• sufficient and dedicated time is provided for poster viewing
• a brief oral presentation is given by participants (where possible)
Travel grants
EMBO provides additional (limited) funding, allowing organizers to offer travel grants to a few of their selected participants coming from labs in countries in need of scientific strengthening (within Europe or internationally).
A maximum of 400 euro per travel grant can be awarded (at organizer's discretion, the amount can be lowered to include more participants). Organizers must supply details of the grants awarded to EMBO after the course (along with the final documentation) in order to be reimbursed.
Participants must apply directly to the meeting organizer for a travel grant.
Organizers can select travel grant recipients at their discretion, as long as they come from labs in countries in need of scientific strengthening (within Europe or internationally).
Priority must be given to participants working in labs in:
Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa and Turkey.
Please note that participants working in the following countries are not eligible:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States.
Advertisement & Payment
Advertising & co-sponsorship
All EMBO-sponsored practical courses will be advertised in selected journals and on the EMBO website. Additional advertising is left at the organizer's discretion.
It is a strict condition of EMBO support that any additional publicity, as well as the course materials, should clearly indicate the event as an EMBO Practical Course and must include the EMBO logo with suitable prominence (co-sponsorship may be acknowledged).
Online HelpDesk
The EMBO Online HelpDesk will organize the setup of all websites (including online registration) and design meeting posters. Full details will be supplied to organizers shortly after funding has been confirmed to organizers.
Payment of the grant
The first payment (80% of the total funding) will be transferred to organizers three months prior to the start of the course.
EMBO must be notified of any significant changes to the course budget.
Payment of the remaining funds will be transferred to the organizers once the following documentation has been submitted to and approved by EMBO:
Final documentation
• Short report about the course (scientific and general - this should include a short scientific overview, the reaction of the participants to the location and organization, and any other relevant comments)
• Final financial statement, which should include all income and expenditure for the practical course. (Please note that receipts, including those of travel grant awardees, must be retained by the organizer for five years after the practical course, for possible auditing.)
• Statistics (list of participants and instructors, including their nationality; total number of participants (male and female) and instructors (male and female); number of participants from industry; and total number of applications)
• Programme and/or abstract book (in print form or CD)
• Participants’ questionnaires (form provided by EMBO) to be distributed and completed by the participants
• List of travel grant awardees (including name, institute, country and amount awarded). Travel receipts from the awardees must also be submitted.
All above documentation must be submitted to EMBO within six months following the end date of the course. Failure to do so will result in the final payment being forfeited.