EBI Training PhD Studies EMBL International PhD Programme

EMBL International PhD Programme - About the EBI and our predoc students

About the EBI

The EBI is a non-profit organisation that forms part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. Formed in 1993, the Institute was a product of EMBL’s pioneering work to provide public biological databases to the research community. Since then, the EBI has become a node for European bioinformatics activities, hosting and maintaining a number of publicly available core databases covering each of the major molecular domains.

EBI mission:

to provide freely available data and bioinformatics services
to contribute to the advancement of biology through research
to provide advanced bioinformatics training at all levels
to disseminate cutting-edge technologies to industry

The EBI is situated on the 55 acres of parkland of the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, 11 miles south of Cambridge. The campus also houses the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, making it one of the world's largest concentrations of expertise in genomics and bioinformatics.

Photographs of the EBI and surrounding campus can be viewed in our picture book.

Information from the EBI predoc student community

The EBI predoc students maintain their own pages about the EBI student community, their projects, advice for applicants and new students, in addition to day to day information on events and seminars.

Bioinformatics training for predoc students

The EBI holds a training course called 'Primers for Predocs' for all first year predoc students on the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus. The course combines lectures and practical computer-based sessions to help students develop the skills to access the EBI's data and resources programmatically in order to assist them with their own research and data.

The EBI and links with the University of Cambridge

EBI PhD students are awarded their PhDs from the University of Cambridge. As registered graduate students, EBI predocs also have the option to become a member of a college, attend courses and enjoy the wider educational and social benefits of being part of the University.

Useful information – arriving at the EBI

Please follow this link for information on travelling to Genome Campus and the EBI. The EBI campus information pages also have some useful information on taxis, campus parking and facilities. Accommodation details can be found here.