Alumni Association News 2012

We were over the moon on 8th December to find that 837 alumni (that’s 33% of those asked) had completed our alumni feedback survey in only two weeks while available online.

The intention behind the survey was to have alumni evaluate the quality and delivery of EMBL and Alumni Association news, media, services and events, based on their needs. The feedback was very positive with constructive suggestions in all areas. “The timing couldn’t have been better”, wrote Giulio Superti-Furga, EMBL Alumni Association Chair, “we were planning to review these services with the new Alumni Association Board in order to support alumni more effectively and efficiently. This data has now set the agenda – so a big thank you to all the participants!”

A small detail which provoked the largest and most passionate response was the EMBL Heidelberg lunch card for life! While most participants passionately completed the “comments” field with questions and statements like: “lunch card for life?! Where is mine? ☺”, “Lunch card, of course, rules ☺”, others went the extra mile to write a personal message to the alumni office about this service. Michael Boutros, former Developmental Biology predoc, now Professor at Heidelberg University and the German Cancer Research Center, wrote: “I didn't know that there is a Heidelberg lunch card for life - is this true or an April 1st joke?” For more information on the lunch cards, please see: www.embl.org/alumni/benefits

“We’re delighted with the participation rate, which includes all the outstations (22% of the contributors), as well as the quality of the feedback, which is signed with name and e-mail address of 40% of the participants, though this was not compulsory”, pointed out EMBL Associate Director Matthias Hentze at the Alumni Association board meeting in Grenoble. “We’re very much looking forward to reviewing the data in the relevant Alumni Association board working groups, and in discussion with EMBL departments”, he concluded.

We will keep our alumni posted when the data is available on the internet, and with further subsequent actions as a result of the feedback.