Aims & Contacts
The aim of the Science and Society initiative at the EMBL is to improve communication and mutual understanding between our scientific community and the world outside, and to promote flow of information among staff within our institute. 

The Forum on Science and Society is a regular seminar series where distinguished speakers are invited to come to the EMBL to give public lectures. In this setting, members of our scientific community, as well as members of the public, meet to engage in a dialogue that stretches across professional boundaries.

As a part of our in-house activities, we also organize regular reading club meetings, where socio-cultural, politico-economic, or ethical aspects of recent developments in the life sciences are discussed. At the same time, we collect useful references regarding science and society and make them available to members of our community.

The life sciences have an enormous potential for further development in the twenty-first century. However, a broad popular consensus needs to be developed around questions of how to assess and deal with the diverse repercussions of that development. More than ever, there is a need for interdisciplinary dialogue to inspire synthetic insights and a common world view. The new ways in which science is now being applied for the production of knowledge and economic wealth must be carefully adjusted to public interests and the value system in each society. It is the responsibility of scientists to engage the public in an ongoing process of carving out a shared understanding of science. Our efforts at the EMBL are motivated by such concerns.
 

Contact us
Office of Information and Public Affairs
Science and Society 
EMBL 
Meyerhofstrasse 1 
D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany 

Tel +49 6221 387 493/125 
Fax +49 6221 387 525 

email: Halldór Stefánsson  or Lena Reunis

The current members of the EMBL Science & Society Committee are: 
  • F. De Masi (474)
  • S. Denger (161) 
  • D. Forler (490)
  • Martin Ploss (567)
  • C. Neumann (602/186)
  • L. Perez (290)
  • L. Reunis (443)
  • S. Sherwood (125)
  • H. Stefansson (Chair, Tel. 493)
  • W. Stanley (Hamburg, 040 89902 112)
  • M. Taipale (557)
  • L. Unterhoelzner (419)

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    EMBL Science and Society home page

    EMBL home page