!!! Please be informed that the entire iNEXT-Discovery project ended on July 31, 2024 !!!
Requests for access, networking and joint research are not possible via iNEXT-Discovery any longer. Many of our public services, however, will remain available through other channels!
iNEXT-Discovery offers a broad range of routine and specialist services guided by expert staff. All our facility access opportunities are available to every scientist from Europe - to some extent even beyond - to stimulate translational research in the ever-growing fields of structural biology, life sciences and others. If you are a cell biologist, a biochemist, a medicinal chemist, working with biomaterials or biotechnology or in the food sector, and you encounter an urgent research question that could benefit from structures of biomolecules, biomolecular interactions, or plainly from the use of our high-end equipment please contact us or apply directly for access through our access portal. It may be obvious that we especially also invite researchers with no prior expertise in structural biology to submit their proposals, and all our access services are available for researchers from academia and industry alike!
The research facilities involved in iNEXT-Discovery are highly specialized structural biology groups that offer services for:
- X-ray methods: crystallography, SAXS and X-ray imaging
- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance: liquid, solid state and in-cell NMR (see here our inventory on time-resolved NMR methods)
- Cryo-Electron Microscopy: Single-Particle Analyses, CLEM and cryo-Electron Tomography
- Macromolecular biophysics: ITC, SPR, DSF, ...
For getting access you need to bring (or 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 purified proteins yet, you may consider to contact Instruct-ERIC for their access possibilities!
To request our facility services, iNEXT-Discovery uses an on-line administration system to process short user proposals that can be submitted at any time. In addition, periodically we announce specific calls to address specific technology, specific applications or to convince non-structural biology communities to apply (health, food, biotechnology, biomaterials, ...). For researchers from industry we even have specific processes in place to secure confidentiality.
For all our structural biology access opportunities, please have a look at our access offers, apply for access immediately or contact us first!
SOME BASIC PROCEDURES
Any request to apply for iNEXT-Discovery access should have a clear 'translational component' for bridging structural biology to applications in biomedical, biotechnological, biomaterial, food or environmental research.
Access to our research facilities should be cross-border (i.e. trans-national), except for requests for using the three EMBL-facilities that are involved in the project.
We use a panel of independent external researchers to peer-review proposals for scientific excellence, and each proposal is carefully evaluated by facility staff for technical feasibility.
For approved proposals, the access that will be provided in the context of iNEXT-Discovery is essentially free of costs. Also visits and shipment of samples are frequently supported, and can often be paid for directly by the facilities.
Any researcher from academia and industry, from Europe and beyond, can apply for iNEXT-Discovery access!
SOME ADDITIONAL CRITERIA
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DO I QUALIFY FOR ... |
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INDUSTRY SME |
INDUSTRY non-SME |
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| ... peer-reviewed access? |  |
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| AND ... | must I acknowledge iNEXT-Discovery? | |
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| AND ... | must I attempt to publish my data? | |
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| AND ... | should I publish as Open Access? | |
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| ... "pay-for-service" access? | |
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| ... workshops and training? | |
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THE DEFAULT WAY TO REQUEST ACCESS
After being informed about our access possibilities and registration you can start preparing your submission. You will be guided to select the "service route" that best fits the aim of your project, then you choose a preferred facility for performing your research. Subsequently, the research background, objectives, and the translational value of your project must be outlined. For each step, detailed information is provided as help text.
In case you consider to access a facility in a different way, 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.
MORE ACCESS SPECIFICS
- Researchers can access each of the three involved EMBL facilities even when they are in the same country.
- Access can be provided in absence or presence of users at our facilities, in some cases experiments can be performed remotely after sample mail-in. In-person visits may be preferred when sample prep or experiments are complicated, or for instance when users desire on-site training and guidance from expert facility staff.
- iNEXT-Discovery can accept applications from researchers from non-EU countries (up to a certain maximum).
- To make access for companies a bit more attractive, we prepared specific 'industry-gateways', one with reviewers that signed Confidentiality Agreements with us, another allows mediation of 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. Also, publications must appear as Open Access (Green or Gold) and acknowledge iNEXT-Discovery as follows:
“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
In most cases it is possible to contact our research facilities directly for additional information. Sometimes they are even willing to proof-read your application and helping you with data processing and analyses! When you do contact them, please make sure that you mention "iNEXT-Discovery" in the subject.
| FACILITY | LOCATION | TECHNOLOGY | CONTACT | |
| 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
To evaluate the iNEXT-Discovery access services and to be able to effectively network with our users, we established a User Panel consisting of three prominent external scientists. They spearhead the underlying "user community", and together with them we strive for an 'optimal user experience'. The User Panel provides personal and user-informed feedback about our services and procedures, but they also provide strategic guidance.
If needed or desired, any user can contact our independent User Panel members directly with remarks, suggestions and problems regarding 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 |
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IMG, CZ - X-rays |
Zurich, CH - NMR |
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