Instruct-ERIC Newsletter
Summer 2024
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2024 has been yet another incredible Biennial Conference year. It was fantastic to host so many of the world’s leading structural biology researchers in Cascais, for a conference which took us through the latest advances in AI, imaging, and a host of other new technologies and directions. In addition, 2024 has so far seen the consortium expand, plus a host of calls and opportunities available exclusively for Instruct members.
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Latest Instruct-ERIC News
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Germany Joins as Instruct Member
Germany joined as the 17th member of Instruct-ERIC in January. Researchers in Germany can now receive funded access to structural biology technology and services across Europe, and Germany is making progress towards also establishing a centre within Instruct.
Find out more here.
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Biennial Structural Biology Conference
The sixth Instruct Biennial Structural Biology Conference 2024 took place in the seaside town of Cascais, Portugal, welcoming more than 230 structural biology researchers to the leading integrated structural biology conference – we look forward to the next conference which will be hosed in Brussels in 2026.Find out more here.
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Bertini Award 2024
At the Conference, the 2024 Bertini Award was presented to Martin Blackledge of IBS Grenoble. Martin was recognised for their pioneering work on intrinsically-disordered proteins using NMR. Presented by previous winner Sjors Scheres, Martin then gave a fantastic talk on their latest work on IDPs. Find out more here.
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Instruct-ERIC Science Highlights
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In-cell NMR suggests that DNA i-motif levels are strongly depleted in human cells
The team from CEITEC in Instruct-CZ accessed the NMR facilities at CERM as part of an Instruct JRA call, providing the opportunity to utilise bioreactors for real-time in-cell NMR, finding that levels of DNA in non-double helical structure, in this case the i-motif are reduced in human cells. Find out more here.
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Instruct-CZ
We are pleased to announce that Jiří Nováček has taken on the role of Chair of the CIISB, the Instruct-CZ centre. Jiří represents Instruct-CZ in the Executive Committee and Council while continuing as the Head of the Cryo-EM core facility at CEITEC. His leadership and experience will certainly build on the strong position in the Instruct community that Professor Vladi Sklenář has built for CIISB over the years.
Moreover, Pavel Kadeřávek was recently appointed as the new head of the Josef Dadok National NMR Centre, starting from July 1st. See the Instruct-CZ Centre here
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Instruct-UK
The Cellular Imaging Core Facility (CICF) is a major hub for microscopy in Oxford, providing imaging solutions from the organismal to the molecular level. The CICF has been introduced to the Instruct catalogue in 2024, offering excellent quality tailored user training and ongoing support on all systems covering a wide range imaging modalities. Users are strongly encouraged to access the core at the project conceptualisation stage – the team then work with them through planning, sample preparation, imaging, data analysis, figure preparation and publication. See the Oxford facility here
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Fragment-Screen In-Person Meeting
The Fragment Screen project held a meeting in June, where members of the cryo-EM, NMR, X-ray, AI and Data, and mass spectrometry teams could exchange developments in their fragment-based drug discovery research. Find out more here.
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iNEXT-Discovery Ended
The iNEXT-Discovery project has now come to an end, having provided access to structural biology technologies across Europe since 2020. Researchers are encouraged to continue accessing services through Instruct – find out more here.
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canSERV Calls
The canSERV project has continued to provide support for structural biology researchers working on cancer-related projects to receive funding for access to advanced technologies and services through Instruct. Keep an eye on open calls here.
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FHERITALE Kick-Off
The FHERITALE project began in January, coordinated by CERM/CIRMMP, Instruct-IT. The project seeks to provide the European research community with a comprehensive overview of technologies and services relevant to understanding the impact of artificial materials on health, food and the environment. Find out more here.
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