The Bijvoet Centre for Biomolecular Research at Utrecht University studies the relation between the structure and function of biomolecules.
The Bijvoet Centre for Biomolecular Research at Utrecht University is part of the Instruct-NL national Instruct Centre in the Netherlands and has facilities for high-throughput mass spectrometry on proteins and peptides, X-ray crystal structure determination of biomolecules as well as small molecules and high-field NMR instrumentation for both liquid- and solid-phase NMR analysis of proteins.
The Bijvoet Centre currently offers access to native protein mass spectrometry, which allows determination of protein mass, complex stoichiometry, and, in combination with ion mobility separation, overall characterization of the structure of protein complexes, to both solution- and solid-phase NMR to enable structure determination of biomolecules and/or the characterization of their macromolecular complexes.
In Instruct, access is also especially offered to integrated projects, using multiple technologies, either at the Bijvoet Centre, or in collaboration with on of the other Instruct Centres.
Important: to ensure a smooth application process, we strongly recommend any users to contact us before submitting an application.
The Bijvoet Centre is currently available for remote access, as well as physical visits by scientists from EU countries, Schengen countries, UK, and select other countries but availability can be limited. Please check possibilities with a Centre representative. Receiving international visitors from other countries is currently not possible due to COVID-19 restrictions. For information on the availability of specific technologies, view the Technology Availability List or contact support@instruct-eric.eu. Please check here regularly for updates.
How to find us
The Bijvoet Centre is located at Utrecht Science Park "De Uithof" in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Please see the Bijvoet Centre website for detailed contact information.
The Bijvoet Centre houses solid state 1200, 800, 700, 500 and 400 MHz NMR equipment for the characterisation of biomolecules, their structure determination and dynamical and functional studies. All of the NMR instruments are state-of-the-art digital Bruker NMR spectrometers.
Not only are the standard pulse sequences for spectroscopic, structural, dynamical, and functional characterisation available, the Bijvoet Centre also offers tailored pulse sequences for structural determination of high molecular weight proteins and other special applications such as in-cell NMR experiments. Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) capabilities on the 800 and 400 MHz instruments provide a significant boost in sensitivity.
View All Magnetic Resonance Techniques at Instruct
View All Solid State NMR at Instruct
The Bijvoet Center at UU offers access and support for solution NMR studies of biomolecules at field strengths ranging from 500 MHz up to 1.2 GHz. The instruments are well-equipped for all standard structural and dynamical characterization of proteins or other biomolecules, with cryoprobes for enhanced sensitivity on three machines.
The Facility has extensive expertise in the study of protein structure, dynamics and interactions. Applications involving high molecular weight proteins or protein complexes, such as nucleosome-protein complexes (200-250 kDa) for instance, benefit from the available tailored pulse sequences, provided these samples are appropiately isotope-labelled. We can now also offer dedicated support for applications involving interactions of intrinsically disordered proteins. Finally, support for medium to high-througput screening will be offered mid 2022.
