Abstract

Instruct-ERIC is a pan-European research infrastructure that provides access to technology and expertise for structural biology at 23 research sites across Europe (www.instruct-eric.eu). Through a combination of funded research visits, training, internships and R&D awards, Instruct promotes the development and application of new techniques. Technologies offered through Instruct reflect demand from the structural biology community. For example, Instruct has nine cryo- electron microscope (cryo-EM) platforms providing specialist tomography and single particle analysis, including fast sample loading and image processing. Similar advances have been made available through Instruct for the use of in-cell NMR methods, nanobody discovery and protein production. The latest addition to Instruct is the Robotein platform (www.robotein.ulg.ac.be ) that offers high through put protein expression and characterisation including biophysical analysis of proteins in situ spotted onto high density microarrays.