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EMBL@Petra3 Project EMBL Hamburg |
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News and Highlights |
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1 February 2007
Press Release - EMBL Hamburg tipped for the top
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| Matthias Wilmanns [top, Head of EMBL Hamburg] and Thomas Schneider [right, Petra-III Project Coordinator] presenting future plans during the press release |
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On 1st February, it was officially announced to the press that the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research [BMBF] will provide funding of €8.8 million for EMBL@PETRA-III, an Integrated Centre for Structural Biology on the new high-energy
PETRA-III storage ring at the German Synchrotron Research Centre [DESY], one of the world's most powerful synchrotron rings.
EMBL Hamburg will build an integrated infrastructure for life science applications using synchrotron radiation at the ring, which is operated by the Outstation's campus partner DESY. A team headed by new Group Leader Thomas Schneider will be in charge of building and operating three beamlines, two of which
will be dedicated to macromolecular X-ray crystallography [allowing structure determination from extremely small crystals] and one to small angle X-ray scattering applications [SAXS, the analysis of overall molecular shapes and dynamic processes of proteins in solution].
The new centre will comprise a complete pipeline for high-throughput structural investigations of molecules under one roof, with facilities for sample preparation, data collection and processing. This new addition to EMBL Hamburg's existing facilities will start operating in 2010.
Access will be prioritized based on scientific criteria.
"This facility will allow us to go beyond current physical limitations and to tackle problems that were out of reach in the past," says Thomas Schneider. "It will strengthen Europe's role as a key player in the life sciences, and raise the profile of Hamburg in the European research landscape."
"EMBL Hamburg has developed great expertise in structural biology research for over 30 years, coordinating several big EU projects," says Matthias Wilmanns, Head of EMBL Hamburg. "To foster the radiation of PETRA-III, one of the world's strongest synchrotron rings, for the life sciences requires this level of technical skills and experience."
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