The European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB) was established by European scientists in 1978. It is a non-profit federation of national biotechnology associations, learned societies, universities, scientific institutes, biotechnology companies and individual biotechnologists working to promote biotechnology throughout Europe and beyond.
The mission of the EFB is to promote the safe, sustainable and beneficial use of the life sciences, to promote research and innovation at the cutting edge of biotechnology, to provide a forum for interdisciplinary and international cooperation, to improve scientific education and to facilitate an informed dialogue between scientists, the biotechnology industries and the public.
The EFB currently has around 25,000 personal members, who span the world from Latin America to China, Korea and Japan. The EFB has 7 Divisions that focus on the key biotechnology fields:
Biobased Materials Division
Biocatalysis Division
Bioengineering and Bioprocessing Division
Biopharmaceutical Division
Environmental Biotechnology Division
Microbial Biotechnology Division
Plant, Agriculture and Food Division.
The EFB Central Office (ECO) is located in Barcelona, Spain. Membership administration, organization of Executive Board meetings and General Assemblies, website management and organization of scientific meetings for EFB Divisions and promotion of the European Congresses on Biotechnology are some of the main responsibilities of ECO.
The European Congress on Biotechnology (ECB) is a conference for academic and industrial biotechnologists in Europe, organised by the European Federation of Biotechnology.
The first Congress in the series was held in 1978 (Interlaken, Switzerland). The event is organised every second year. Due to the covid-19 pandemic, the Congress planned for 2020 had to be postponed to 2024. It will be held in Maastricht, the Netherlands. “Biotechnology for the Grand Challenges of our Society” will be the theme of the event.