11-May-2023
Sarah Butcher has been elected as the new Chair and Jose Maria Carazo Vice-Chair of the Instruct-ERIC Council, building on their years of experience as part of the Instruct community.
They succeed Eric Guittet of CNRS, who had been Council Chair for 4 years. Eric will remain as a member of Council, representing France.
Sarah was formerly the Vice Chair of the Council, and is Professor and Research Director at the University of Helsinki. The University of Helsinki is one of three facilities in Instruct-FI, alongside the University of Oulu and the University of Eastern Finland. The University of Helsinki offers access to several protein production and proteomics services, as well as cryo-EM and NMR technologies.
Sarah commented, "I am honoured to be elected Chair, taking over from Eric Guittet who has led Council for four years and shown me the ropes whilst I have been vice-chair for the past two years. Instruct is performing well, finding strength in renewal and leading the way in integrated structural biology research, access and training. I hope, as chair, to facilitate Council's role in contributing to this continued growth and development, with enhanced communication, transparency, inclusiveness, and effectiveness across the board.”
Left to Right: Harald Schwalbe, Instruct Director; Sarah Butcher, Council Chair; Jose Maria Carazo, Council Vice Chair; Natalie Haley, Instruct Head of Strategy; Claudia Alen Amaro, Instruct Head of Operations
Jose Maria is a Professor at CNB-CSIC. I2PC is one of two facilities in Instruct-ES, alongside CNB-CSIC, both at the same site in Madrid. Combined, the facilities offer access to advanced cryo-EM technology, plus SCIPION imaging software and experience in producing the highest quality data.
Jose Maria commented, "Today was an important day for Instruct-ERIC. It showed the maturity of the Infrastructure, the internal cohesion of its members and its capacity to evolve in an harmonious manner. In this context, I am honoured to serve Instruct from the position of Council Vice Chair, teaming up with the new Chair of the Council and closely connecting with the other bodies of the Research Infrastructure. I am sure that there will be many challenges ahead of us, but we are building on very solid grounds and with a clear sense of common purpose, which is the essence of success."
Harald Schwalbe, Director of Instruct-ERIC, said, “The fruitful collaboration between Instruct-Council and the Instruct Centres and Hub are vital for our success in providing access to cutting-edge technologies and services in Integrated Structural Biology. With the new chair and vice-chair of Council, I am convinced that we will be able to continuously transform Instruct towards its goal of keeping `Structural Biology at the forefront of science and innovation in Europe’. I wish to sincerely thank Prof. Eric Guittet for his service as Council chair, enabling and supporting the continuous growth of Instruct.”
The Instruct-ERIC Council is the ultimate decision-making body in the consortium. It consists of scientific and administrative representatives from each Instruct-ERIC Member State.
