Events and training opportunities
Venue
Instruct-ERIC Centre Finland, University of Helsinki, Viikki Campus, Helsinki, Finland
Teachers and experts
Instruct-ERIC Centre Finland, Helsinki
Wyatt Technology
Target audience
MSc / PhD students, early career researchers, PIs.
NEW! Participants selected.
Course description
High quality samples ensure successful structural and functional characterization of biological samples. Direct non-destructive characterization of the sample to assess size, shape and heterogeneity prior to vitrification for cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) can significantly shorten the required data collection time and improve subsequent structure determination.
The 5-day hands-on-course introduces size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and asymmetrical flow field flow fractionation (AF4) coupled with light scattering (LS), as a tool to analyze samples intended for structure determination. The focus will be on optimization of samples for cryo-EM. Cryo-EM grid preparation and preliminary sample screening will be performed in the course. Participants can work on their own samples (see below).
Tentative course schedule:
Day 1. Lectures and practicals on DLS, SEC-MALS and AF4, Get-together dinner
Day 2. Lectures and practicals on SEC-MALS and AF4 continued, data analysis (ASTRA software)
Day 3. Lecture on cryoEM principles and sample preparation, practicals on cryoEM grid preparation, Data analysis from SEC-MALS/AF4 continued.
Day 4. Lecture of cryoEM data collection, practicals on cryoEM grid preparation and screening of cryoEM grids
Day 5. Screening of cryoEM grids, student presentations and course wrap up and feedback.
After the course the participants are expected to:
Registration and registration fee
Course is a hands-on-course. Therefore, the number of participants taking part to the hands-on course content is limited to 12. Lectures are open to a wider audience, and we hope to stream them. Participants are selected based on information provided in the registration step. Registration involves a short 200 word description of the participant’s research project. Please, indicate if you are interested in bringing in your own sample (see sample information below).
We will not process applications that exceed the suggested word counts.
Registration deadline is 16th March 2025 23:59. Decisions are made by 21st March 2025.
Link to registration form in Lyyti.
There is no registration fee. Participants will receive coffee during coffee breaks, lunch during course days, course materials, and accommodation in single rooms (https://unihome.fi/en/properties/toolo-towers). Accommodation includes breakfast. Accommodation is reserved for 18 May -25 May 2025. There is no organized dinner, except for day 1. Support for accommodation, lunch and get together dinner is only for the selected 12 participants participating on the hands on course.
Participants are responsible for their own travel plans and travel costs to and within Finland.
Sample information
We request information on samples intended to be studied on the course to ensure that they are compatible with our instruments and fulfill the safety precautions of our facilities. The organizers choose the samples to be examined in the course. The samples have to be soluble in 1xPBS
Transportation of the sample to the course is on the participants responsibility and own cost.
Sample information that helps us to evaluate the suitability of the sample includes the following information that can be provided upon registration:
In Finland, biological agents are divided into four categories according to the risk they pose, as follows (translated from https://www.edilex.fi/lainsaadanto/20170933)
1) A biological agent in category 1 is not likely to cause human illness or a risk to the health of the worker;
(2) a biological agent in category 2 may cause a human disease which is treatable, for which an effective means of prevention is generally available and which is unlikely to spread to the general population, but which may present a risk to the health of the worker;
(3) a biological agent in category 3 may cause a serious disease in humans which is treatable, for which an effective means of prevention is usually available, and which is likely to be transmitted to the general population and present a serious risk to the health of the worker;
(4) a biological agent in category 4 causes a serious disease in humans for which there is no effective treatment or prevention available and which has a high probability of spreading to the general population and poses a serious risk to the health of the worker.
Cancellation policy:
The following cancellation policies apply.
Cancellation by the course participant
Cancellation by the Institution
We reserve the right to cancel the course, in case of an insufficient number of participants, organizational reasons, or other unforeseeable events that render the execution of the course impossible. We also reserve the right to amend course times or do changes in the accommodation.
Virus club seminar is a montly seminar series at the Viikki Campus, University of Helsinki. It is open to all students and reserchers.
The program can be found here, see the section for seminar series.
The seminar series is a campus-wide structural biology, biophysics and biochemistry seminar series open to all researchers and students.
The program can be found here.
Microbiology seminars is a montly seminar series at the Viikki Campus, University of Helsinki. It is open to all students and reserchers.
The program can be found here, see the section for seminar series.
The first ScanVir Conference will be held on June 3rd to 5th, 2019 in Turku, Finland. This meeting initiates a series of Scandinavian conferences, held every third year in one of the Scandinavian countries. The meeting will bring together Scandinavian and other international virologists, and creates opportunities for fruitful collaboration.
The topics include all aspects of virology and viral immunology - basic, applied and clinical virology. The program is divided into parallel sessions with plenary lectures given by distinguished keynote speakers. We will put extra effort in creating possibilities for stimulating cooperation by offering interactive sessions on the hot topics in virology and by providing the possibility of reserving "a think-tank room" for brainstorming sessions by small groups.
The meeting is committed to being "a green meeting": the venue, hotels and Turku city attractions, are all within walking distance and the venue providers and hotels are committed to taking responsibility for the environment. The sessions will be held on two locations conveniently connected by a pedestrian bridge over the river Aura and offering lovely views and short walking breaks between the sessions.
Information about the ScanVir2019 Meeting will constantly be updated on the conference webpage. Please see the link.
Registration and abstract submission will start on January 2, 2019.
Organizing Committee
Prof. Ilkka Julkunen
Dr. Veijo Hukkanen
Dr. Laura Kakkola
Dr. Petri Susi
Dr. Sisko Tauriainen
Dr. Matti Waris
The International School of Crystallography (ISCoC) will take place May 31st-June 8th, 2019 in Erice, Sicily. The ISCoC is a Scientific Session of the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture (EMFCSC) devoted to promoting structural biology knowledge for the international scientific community. The School was officially started in 1974 under the scientific direction of Nobel Laureate Dorothy Hodgkin, and Lodovico Riva di Sanseverino (Bologna University). Professor Sir Tom Blundell, FRS, (Cambridge University, UK) is the current scientific director of the School.
The 54th course, will be the inaugural School on 3D CryoEM image analysis at Erice. 3D Cryo-EM image analysis refers to the current practices in image processing and analysis both for single particle analysis and tomography. The School aims at providing a current snapshot of this evolving field, complete with workshops demonstrating state-of-the art software. Topics will include: Deep learning, map validation and improvement , GPU processing and data handling, cellular tomography, sub-tomogram averaging, and automated data collection. Keynote talks will be delivered by Joachim Frank, David DeRosier and Wolfgang Baumeister.
Attendance to the ISCoC is by application. We will expect 80 total participants, selected from the most geographical diverse student body possible, to enable and facilitate international collaborations. For the same reason, lecturers and students are encouraged to spend the full period of the course in Erice to optimize the person-to-person exchange of ideas and expertise.
The deadline for registration is on November 30, 2018.
We encourage you to register soon! Poster abstracts must be submitted to be included in the program and, more importantly, to be considered for the short talk sessions.
The preliminary program and registration details can be found at ( https://crystalerice.org/2019/ )
See you soon in Erice,
Dorit Hanein, Steven Ludtke and Stefan Raunser , Directors of the Course
The 4th Instruct Biennial Structural Biology Conference, which will take place in Alcalá de Henares, Spain, from May 22 till May 24, 2019.
Submission deadlines
More information: link
Written on August 29, 2018
This one-day symposium organised by HiLIFE - Helsinki Institute of Life Science will showcase uses of cryo-EM (cryogenic electron microscopy) in studying biological mechanisms at different levels of complexity - ranging from macromolecules to cells. Distinguished international speakers will discuss how cryo-EM is now helping to understand illness and how it is starting to inform drug discovery. We welcome anyone who is interested in hearing about cutting-edge science and methods bridging cell biology, neuroscience, biochemistry, virology, and microbiology.
Venue: Biomedicum 1, Lecture Hall 2 (Haartmaninkatu 8) Meilahti Campus, University of Helsinki.
Visit the web site of the event here
Proteopedia is a Resource for structural biology developed by Joel Sussman and Jaime Prilusky at the Weizmann institute, together with an international group of experts plus many contributions from researchers that annotate their structure(s) using the tools available in Proteopedia. It is setup also as a teaching and educational tool. Several journals now offer to authors help for making a Proteopedia description of their structural data (see for example http://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/paper?S2059798318015322 http://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/paper?S2053230X18016217 http://proteopedia.org/wiki/index.php/Proteopedia:I3DC )
Joel and Jaime have taken the initiative to visit several Structural Biology reseach centers in Europe and in this context they will visit FBMM of the Univesity of Oulu on February 27/28. On wednesday Feb-27 starting at approximately 10:00 there will be an Introduction by Joel and Jaime about Proteopedia as a tool for research and teaching at Universities. In the afternoon there will be a similar session for high school teachers. Tuomo Glumoff, dean of eduaction of FBMM will moderate these sessions. The planning for thursday is still rather open but Joel and Jaime are also keen on having face-to-face discussions in smaller groups on how to develope Proteopedia further for research and teaching. Using Proteopedia for annotating your structure is not difficult and we will also have sessions where this will be explained further. This event is an ELIXIR activity and it is coorganised with PDBe and an expert from EBI might also join. The program is still very flexible and anyone interested in interacting with Joel and Jaime can contact Rik Wierenga for making a schedule.
Rik Wierenga, FBMM
See also:
Proteopedia: http://proteopedia.org
General info:http://proteopedia.org/wiki/index.php/Help:Contents#Generic_help_in_using_Prote…
Teaching, general: http://proteopedia.org/wiki/index.php/Help:Contents#Teaching_and_Education
Teaching, high school: http://proteopedia.org/wiki/index.php/High_school_teachers%27_resources
Future of Instruct-ERIC in Finland - A Landmark European Research Infrastructure for Structural Biology
Friday December 21 at 9.00-9.30 in Biocentre 1, Room 1401 (Learning Centre), Viikinkaari 9, University Helsinki
Speaker: Sarah Butcher, Director of Instruct-FI Consortium (Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences & Institute of Biotechnology, HiLIFE, UH)
Instruct-HiLIFE: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/infrastructures/integrated-structural-cell-biology
National Consortium Instruct-FI: https://www.biocenter.fi/index.php/technology-platform-services/structural-biology
ESFRI Instruct-ERIC: https://www.instruct-eric.eu/
We have been working hard to move Finland in to the Instruct-ERIC, which is a European infrastructure for structural biology. There have now been multiple hearings in the parliament to pass a law so that Finland could join, and it looks like the process will be finished in January at the latest. After that, the Ministry of Education and Culture representative will ask the ERIC Council (meeting in May 2019) for Finland to become a member.
What does that means for you? Around 300 different platforms will become available to any scientist in Finland, with supported (partially funded) access through a peer-reviewed application process. We are happy to give advice when the time comes. Those platforms through the Instruct Centres are all currently available for you, without financial support from the Instruct ERIC. So by writing a short application, you may get upto 2600 € support for instrument usage per application. If we have a lot of successful applicants e.g. for cryoEM, then that will also mean that we can potentially lower the fees for those applicants that are not going through the Instruct Center, but are using the cores as normal because of the Instruct ERIC subsidy helping to cover the very high service fees of the instruments.
There will also be changes locally, as some of our local and national services will also be open through this agreement. The new Instruct Centre Finland would include the following units and services: The proposed Instruct-ERIC Centre Finland will be a distributed centre having nodes at the Universities of Helsinki, Oulu, and Eastern Finland, and it is coordinated by the University of Helsinki. We have proposed to the Instruct-ERIC Council (successfully reviewed) that the Finnish ERIC services in Helsinki will be Biomolecular complex purification (Biocomplex), cryoEM, segmental labeling, and single-cell proteomics (ScopeMS). Oulu will offer services in X-ray crystallography and data management. Eastern Finland will provide services and expertise in native mass spectrometry.
Sarah Butcher
Organizer: Hanna Oksanen, Coordinator of Instruct-FI Consortium (Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, UH; hanna.oksanen at helsinki.fi)
Monday 19.11.2018, Helsinki
Welcome to introduction of Scientific workflow app created by FEI/Thermo Fisher. It provides workflow recommendations to optimize the electron microscopy process based on system configuration, sample and grid type.
FEI representative will give us a short introduction presentation of Scientific workflow app followed by three demonstration sessions with Talos Arctica.
Please, fill in registration form by Tuesday 13.11.2018.
https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/93386/lomake.html
Venue is Biocenter 1, Viikki, Helsinki. Because the number of participants is limited (Introduction: 30 person and Demonstrations: 9 person), all applicants will receive separate verification email after registration period.
Schedule for the day
9:00 – 10:00 Presentation: Introduction to Scientific workflow app
Biocenter 1, Viikki Room: 1401.3
10:00 – 11:30 Demonstration: Group 1, Counting/Linear mode
Biocenter 1, Viikki Room: 1408
11:30 – 12:30 Lunch
12:30 – 14:00 Demonstration: Group 2, Counting/Linear mode
Biocenter 1, Viikki Room: 1408
14:00 – 15:30 Demonstration: Group 3, Phase plate
Biocenter 1, Viikki Room: 1408
For further information, please contact Benita Löflund grp-cryoemservice@helsinki.fi
Joint Annual Meeting of Finnish Synchrotron Radiation User Organisation (FSRUO) and Finnish Structural Biology Network (FinnBox) on at the University of Oulu on November 15-16, 2018
Registration is now open. Registration link and more details are available here
PhD students and postdoctoral researchers please submit a short abstract for the talk selection. Suggestions from PIs are also welcome.
No registration fee, the registration includes the conference dinner.
Written on 4.9.2018
Open SESAME & Instruct-ERIC Workshop on Remote X-ray Data Collection from European Synchrotrons at the Weizmann Institute of Science
For further information, please see http://www.weizmann.ac.il/conferences/RXDC2018/
Written on 15.01.2018
Translating Structural Biology into Biomedical Applications (iNEXT workshop)
Structure-based and biophysical approaches are now well established in industry as major tools contributing to drug development and there is a growing interest among academic labs in applying these techniques to help develop chemical tools. New technologies for HT fragment-based screening and cryo-electron microscopy are rapidly changing the field and there is a strong potential for collaborations between scientist in industry and academia on this area. The aim of the workshop is to present the state of the art as well as to provide a meeting ground for scientist from public and private institutions. The workshop will include keynote lectures from scientist in industry and academia as well as presentations on new technologies and access opportunities within iNEXT. Abstracts from participants with a focus on areas of high translational potential will be selected for oral presentations.
Additional information and registration through this link
Dedine for registration is February 5th, 2018.
iNEXT is a consortium funded by the Horizon2020 program that is pioneering coordinated access to infrastructures for macromolecular crystallography, SAXS, NMR, electron microscopy, advanced light microscopy and biophy! sics. In addition to providing access, the consortium has established ambitious collaborative structural biology research programs to develop advanced methodologies for ligand screening, the study of membrane proteins and acquiring structural information in the context of the living cell. The iNEXT workshop will be preceded by the iNEXT Users Meeting March 19-21 2018.
Written on 15.01.2018.