Arzu Çelik planned to return to Turkey after completing her PhD in Germany and post-doc in the United States. She felt she could contribute to the growing research scene. But after 11 years away, she realised that gaining adequate funding for her lab that focuses on cell-type differentiation during eye development and connecting with other Turkish scientists would be key to a successful transition.

Arzu was one of nine talented life scientists awarded EMBO Installation Grants at the end of 2007, assisting them to relocate and set up their research groups in Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Portugal and Turkey. These nine scientists are the second group of awardees since the scheme was introduced in 2006.

EMBO Installation Grants are awarded annually and aim to strengthen science in participating EMBO Member States. The Member States hosting the the grantees finance the grants entirely. Current participants include Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Portugal and Turkey.

Each scientist receives 50,000 euro annually for three to five years to help them establish their groups and themselves in the European scientific community. Grantees are integrated into the prestigious EMBO Young Investigator network, providing networking opportunities with some of Europe’s best young group leaders and a range of career development programmes.

Arzu Çelik says that the flexible spending conditions of the EMBO Installation Grant complement other local grants, allowing her to structure her lab budget to get established quickly and focus on the lab’s research.

“The grant has definitely made it much easier for me to connect to other scientists in Turkey,” said Arzu, “and has led to the establishment of a regular Istanbul-wide meeting series where young investigators and their groups meet every two months to discuss their research.”

By bringing high levels of scientific talent into the participating countries, EMBO hopes to improve the competitiveness of these countries in European science. Two of the nine grantees from 2007 are establishing groups in the Czech Republic, two in Hungary, two in Turkey, one in Croatia, one in Poland and one in Portugal. Four scientists moved from positions in the USA, two moved from the UK, two from Switzerland and one moved from Sweden.

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