On 11th May, 2015, prof. Iain W. Matt, the General Director of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg was a guest at the Nencki Institute. The possibilities of bilataralnej cooperation in research and PhD studies were discussed.

A few months ago Prof. Lena Kolarska-Bobińska, Minister of Science and Higher Education in Poland, and Iain W. Matt, signed a Letter of Intent on Polish accession to the EMBL as a so-called prospective member (Prospect Member State).

EMBL is the leading intergovernmental organization in Europe in the field of biology, with the main laboratory in Heidelberg and four stations: EMBL-Grenoble ESRF (France), Hamburg EMBL-DESY (Germany), Hinxton EMBL - European Bioinformatics Institute (UK. UK) and Monterotondo (Italy). According to data given out by Scimago Institutions World Report 2013, of the 3,000 major scientific institutions in the world EMBL occupies first place in Europe.