Overall responsibility of all procurement-related activities at EMBL's six sites across Europe lies with the main laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany – the outstations are independent in their daily activities.

The Purchase Office is responsible for all related aspects:

• preparing Invitations-To-Tender, Requests-For-Quotation, Contracts and Purchase Orders
• proactively identifying potential suppliers and contractors
• monitoring the industrial environment
• defining Best Practices.