services | Infrastructure for NMR, EM and X-rays for Translational Research

!!! The iNEXT-Discovery project ended on July 31, 2024 !!!

Many of our structural biology services will remain available through Instruct-ERIC.

iNEXT-Discovery offers routine and specialist services guided by expert staff to stimulate translational research in the expanding fields of structural biology and other life sciences. If you are a cell biologist, biochemist or medicinal chemist, working with biomaterials or biotechnology, or from the food sector, and you require insight into structures of biomolecules or biomolecular interactions, please apply for access. We especially also invite researchers without extensive structural biology expertise to submit their research proposals. Our access services are available for researchers from academia and industry alike!

The research facilities involved in iNEXT-Discovery are highly specialized structural biology labs that offer services for:

X-ray methods: crystallography, SAXS, X-ray imaging
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance: liquid state, solid state, in-cell, time-resolved
Cryo-Electron Microscopy: Single Particle Analysis, CLEM, tomography
Macromolecular biophysics: ITC, SPR, DSF, etc.

For access you need to bring/send the material that you want to study to the facility, such as purified protein, macromolecular complexes, small molecules, DNA, RNA, cells, etc. NB: in case you do not have proper protein samples yet, you may consider Instruct-ERIC protein production possibilities!

To request services, we use an on-line administration system that is constantly open for short user applications. In parallel, we prepare calls-for-proposals for specific technology or applications, or to attract specific non-structural biology communities. We have dedicated procedures in place for researchers from industry who wish to secure confidentiality.

To make use of our access opportunities, please look at our offers, apply immediately or contact us

BASIC PROCEDURES

All iNEXT-Discovery access requests must have a clear 'translational component' for linking structural biology to biomedical, biotechnological, biomaterial, food or environmental research applications.

Access should be cross-border (i.e. trans-national), except for applying to the EMBL-facilities involved.

We use a two-tiered reviewing process with independent external researchers evaluating scientific excellence and technical feasibility being judged separately by the requested facility staff.

Access provided for approved iNEXT-Discovery projects is essentially free of costs. Visits and shipment of samples can be supported, often paid directly by participating facilities.

Every researcher from academia and industry, from Europe and beyond, can apply for access!

SOME ADDITIONAL CRITERIA

DO I QUALIFY FOR ...		ACADEMIA	INDUSTRY SME	INDUSTRY non-SME
... peer-reviewed access?
AND ...	must I acknowledge iNEXT-Discovery?
AND ...	must I attempt to publish my data?
AND ...	should I publish as Open Access?
... "pay-for-service" access?
... workshops and training?

DEFAULT ACCESS REQUESTS

After reading about our access possibilities and registration you prepare your submission. You select the "service route" that best fits the aim of your project and you choose one of the facilities capable to perform your research. Subsequently, the research background, objectives, and the translational value of your project should be outlined. For each step, detailed information is provided as help text.

In case you would like to explore possibilities to access one of our facilities beyond the iNEXT-Discovery offerings, do not hesitate to contact them directly (see below). For applying for access, please follow this link, or click the big red button "Apply for Access" at the top-right of our website. Our general Access Guidelines can be found here.

SPECIFIC ACCESS RULES

Researchers can access each of the three involved EMBL facilities even when they work in the same country.
Access can be provided with our without visiting our facilities. In some cases experiments can be performed remotely after sample mail-in, whereas in-person visits may be preferred when sample prep or experiments are complicated, or when users desire on-site hands-on training and guidance from expert facility staff.
iNEXT-Discovery accepts also applications from researchers from non-EU countries, albeit up to a certain maximum.
To facilitate access for company researchers, we prepared specific 'industry entry points', one using reviewers who signed Confidentiality Agreements with us, a second one mediates direct interactions between applicants and facilities.
Costs for travel, accommodation and sample shipment are directly reimbursed by the facility, always according to their local regulations.
Complying with the EC Open Science philosophy, iNEXT-Discovery users should always be prepared to publish the data they receive. Publications must appear as Open Access (Green or Gold) and acknowledge iNEXT-Discovery:

“This work benefited from access to [the Name of facility] and has been supported by iNEXT-Discovery, project number 871037, funded by the Horizon 2020 program of the European Commission”

FACILITY CONTACTS

Feel free to contact our research facilities directly for any information regarding their access services. Sometimes they agree to proof-read your application and they can help you with finding alternative access routes, data processing and analyses!

FACILITY	LOCATION	TECHNOLOGY	CONTACT	EMAIL
ABSL / UNIVLEEDS	UK, Leeds	EM		cryoEM@leeds.ac.uk
ALBA	ES, Barcelona	Xray	Maria Jose Simancas	useroffice@cells.es
AU	DK, Aarhus	EM	Thomas Boesen	thb@mbg.au.dk
CBI	FR, Strasbourg	EM	Marie-Christine Poterszman	pmarie@igbmc.fr
CEITEC	CZ, Brno	NMR, EM	Katerina Vagnerova	core.facility@ceitec.muni.cz
CIRMMP/CERM	IT, Florence	NMR		cirmmp@cerm.unifi.it
CSIC	ES, Madrid	EM	Javier Chichon	fjchichon@cnb.csic.es
DIAMOND	UK, Didcot	Xray, EM	Xray: Jodie Lavender EM: Anna Rackley	jodie.lavender@diamond.ac.uk anna.rackley@diamond.ac.uk
EMBL-GR	FR, Grenoble	Xray
EMBL-HD	DE, Heidelberg	EM	Virginia Pierini	ic-contact@embl.de
EMBL-HH	DE, Hamburg	Xray (MX, SAXS)
GUF/BMRZ	DE, Frankfurt	NMR	Christian Richter	ric@nmr.uni-frankfurt.de
HZB	DE, Berlin	Xray
MAX IV	SE, Lund	Xray
NeCEN	NL, Leiden	EM	Ludovic Renault	l.renault@biology.leidenuniv.nl
NKI	NL, Amsterdam	Interactions	Hans Wienk	h.wienk@nki.nl
RALF-NMR	FR, Lyon/Grenoble	NMR (LY, GR)
SOLEIL	FR, Paris	Xray	Frédérique Fraissard	useroffice@synchrotron-soleil.fr
UU	NL, Utrecht	NMR	Andrei Gurinov	a.gurinov@uu.nl

USER PANEL

For monitoring the iNEXT-Discovery access services and efficient networking with our user-base, we established a User Panel with three external scientists. Together with them the iNEXT-Discovery consortium strives for an 'optimal user experience', while the User Panel also provides strategic guidance.

If needed or desired, users can contact our independent User Panel members directly with remarks, suggestions and problems regarding their iNEXT-Discovery access (click on their names below to see their email addresses). Of course, anybody is also always welcome to directly contact the iNEXT-Discovery Project Manager.

User Panel

Pavlina Rezacova

X-rays

Oliver Zerbe

NMR

Christiane Berger-Schaffitzel

EM