21-Jun-2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a shift among research infrastructures to offer remote access, borne out of necessity following travel restrictions.
Jan Hrušák, Chair of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), said he expects that laboratories and research facilities will make better use of remote access technologies – with research infrastructures providing long-term flexibility to their users across Europe and beyond.
Instruct-ERIC is no different. With 15 members throughout the continent, and 11 centres providing 26 research facilities, restrictions to foreign travel (and even national travel in some cases) dealt a potentially huge blow to structural biology research access in Europe.
Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, Instruct has funded access for almost 300 research visits to sites across Europe in the past 18 months, of which nearly two thirds have been transnational. This has only been made possible because Instruct facilities have so quickly adapted to remote working.
In addition to remote access, Instruct has also managed to maintain its wide of range of additional services, including training programmes, internships and R&D funding.
Even as lockdowns lift slowly throughout the world, Instruct facilities are now equipped with the technology and expertise to deliver remote access, courses and education, providing a flexible solution for researchers.
Remote access can now be a cost and time-effective method of conducting transnational or even national research, reducing travel time and the requirement of expertise with equipment and machines.
Explore the full range of Instruct services, or apply for access below.
