Instruct-ERIC Newsletter
Winter 2025
|
|
|
|
|
2025 has been a year for reflection at Instruct-ERIC, assessing the positive impacts of its recent past and looking to how this can grow and advance Instruct and structural biology in the future. This year, Prof. Harald Schwalbe was renewed as Director of Instruct-ERIC until 2031, Instruct initiated its 5-year review cycle to take stock of the current status of Instruct and what can be enhanced, two major Centres were added and expanded in Germany and Spain respectively, expanding Instruct’s catalogue of accessible technologies with state of the art services in NMR, electron microscopy, and X-Ray crystallography, plus new innovations in AI. All this whilst preparations are underway for the next Instruct Biennial Structural Biology Conference in Brussels in May 2026!
|
|
|
|
Latest Instruct-ERIC News
|
|
|
|
|
Instruct Director Renewed
Professor Harald Schwalbe has been renewed as Director of Instruct-ERIC, confirmed at the Instruct Council Meeting in Helsinki in October. Harald has been Director of Instruct since 2022, and has now been renewed until 2031.
Find out more here.
|
|
|
|
|
EOSC Node Formation
ELIXIR, Euro-BioImaging, Instruct-ERIC and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) have joined forces to establish a candidate European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) node, aiming to improve access to repositories, software tools, services, standardised workflows and reproducible methods for life science researchers. Find out more here
|
|
|
|
|
Research Site - Lithuania
Instruct added a new Research Site, in Lithuania. Instruct Research Sites provide training events and a national hub for structural biology research within Instruct. The Lithuania research site is hosted at Vilnius University Life Sciences Center (VU LSC) Find out more here.
|
|
|
|
|
Instruct-ERIC and Latin America
Instruct has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Universidad de Concepcion in Chile, and also with CEBEM, the structural biology network in Latin America, granting eligibility for researchers in all institutions for funded access to Instruct through dedicated international calls. Find out more here.
|
|
|
|
Instruct-ERIC Science Highlights
|
|
|
|
|
Identifying Antifungal Drug Targets by Solving TRL1 ATP-Ligase Binding Domain Structure
The team utilised crystallisation sample preparation techniques at IGBMC (part of Instruct-FR) through Instruct-ERIC to solve the structure of fungal tRNA ligase in C. albicans. See the full highlight here.
|
|
|
|
|
Determining Structure and Function of Archaea DNA-binding Proteins with Integrative Structural Biology Approach
This study aimed to study the function of single-stranded DNA-binding proteins in archaebacteria, utilising cryo-EM at OPIC in Instruct-UK to characterise the structure of the RPA complex, a key factor in DNA replication. See the full highlight here.
|
|
|
|
|
Instruct-DE and Instruct-ES
Registration is now open for 43rd Structure Meets Function Webinar, taking place 20 January, and will have an introduction to the expanded and new Instruct Centres in Spain and Germany. Find out more about the new technologies webinar and register to attend here.
|
|
|
|
|
Fragment-Screen Update
The Fragment-Screen project, coordinated by Instruct-ERIC, has seen several papers published in 2025, outlining the impact of fragment-based drug discovery through structural biology and other techniques. See the full list here.
|
|
|
|
canSERV Transnational Access Call
In the most recent canSERV call in 2025, 20 applications were submitted to utilise Instruct-ERIC services for cancer research in structural biology. Overall the project has led to more than 70 proposals to access Instruct technologies for cancer research.
|
|
|
|
IMAGINE Project Enter Validation Phase
The IMAGINE project, coordinated by EMBL, enters the second phase of the project, now focusing on the validation of the new services developed in Cryo-EM and X-ray techniques. Find out more about the project here.
|
|
|
|
|
EU-LAC ResInfra Plus International Call
Several international users of Instruct-ERIC have received funded access to technologies, training, and expertise at Instruct Centres through the latest international call, conducted in partnership with the EU-LAC ResInfra Plus project. See more here.
|
|
|
|
|
