European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), comprising of more than 1800 leading researchers in life sciences, awarded EMBO Installation Grants to ten young scientists establishing independent laboratories in the Czech Republic, Poland, Portugal, and Turkey. Among the supported researchers, announced in December, is also one Czech scientist – Martin Schwarzer from the Institute of Microbiology of the CAS.

Martin Schwarzer (born 1980) currently works at the Gnotobiology Laboratory of the Institute of Microbiology of the CAS in the town of Nový Hrádek. His main area of scientific interest is bacteria-driven host juvenile growth promotion. The grant was also awarded to five scientists from Turkey, three scientists from Poland, and one from Portugal. Each grantee will receive 50,000 euros annually for three to five years.

“We’re pleased to welcome these ten talented life scientists to the EMBO community,” said EMBO Director Maria Leptin. “They have all shown that they are able to carry out research of the highest quality, and we look forward to supporting them in taking the next step in their careers and setting up their own research groups.”

Martin Schwarzer will use the grant to finance his research group Interactive Physiology of Gnotobionts. “We are trying to examine the mechanism through which intestinal bacteria support growth of a young mammal organism in the conditions of malnutrition,” Schwarzer explained. “To this end, we will use a unique model of microbe-free mice and pigs. In the Czech Republic they are bred solely by the Laboratory of Gnotobiology, a detached department of the Institute of Microbiology of the CAS.”

According to Schwarzer, a significant advantage of the EMBO grant is the fact that the budget can be used largely at the scientists’ discretion. “It can be used both to support students in the team and to buy necessary equipment or pay for analyses that are not available in the laboratory, and all this with only a minimum of bureaucratic burden,” added the scientist.

The EMBO Installation Grant is co-funded by ministries and research agencies from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Portugal, and Turkey, including the Czech ministry of education. Its goal is to help young scientists to advance their research, promote their international reputations and ensure their mobility. Since 2006, 103 group leaders have been supported through the grant.

Prepared by: Milan Pohl, Department of Media Communication of the Head Office of the CAS, with use of press release by EMBO