The Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine was established in 2007 as a joint collaboration between the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the Universities of Helsinki, Finland, Oslo, Norway and Umeå, Sweden and is involved in the building of national sister institutions in the three countries. Today, the partnership includes EMBL, the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), the Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway (NCMM), the Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience (DANDRITE) and the Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS, www.umu.se/mims) and is dedicated to the growing field of life sciences that investigates the molecular basis of disease and explores molecularly and genetically based treatments.

The Partnership provides access to scientific infrastructure, including databases, facilities and instrumentation, as well as to clinical materials and networks and training activities provided by the partners and adopts the EMBL model for international recruitment, staff turnover and scientific reviews.

MIMS aims to strengthen Swedish research and to enhance the dynamics in the field of molecular medicine, partly by promoting career opportunities for young scientists. MIMS emerged from the Umeå Centre for Microbial Research (UCMR, www.umu.se/en/ucmr) that includes researchers active in the fields of molecular and clinical microbiology, molecular biology, chemistry and physics. The research groups have a pronounced international profile with many guest researchers and graduate students, as well as faculty members, from other countries. The groups work in modern laboratories with well-equipped common facilities establishing a basis for a creative and highly interactive environment. MIMS and UCMR are affiliated with both the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Science and Technology and are closely connected to the university hospital (Norrlands University Hospital).

For additional information, please visit the website (www.umu.se/mims) for The Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS).