FCT hosted a meeting of the Instruct ERIC Council

On May 10, FCT hosted the Instruct ERIC Council meeting, which brought together representatives from all member countries and the coordination team of this European Research Infrastructure for Structural Biology. Included in the ESFRI (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures) Roadmap since 2006, this infrastructure provides resources and technology to researchers and commercial users engaged in R&I activities related to Structural Biology.

In addition to Portugal, the following countries are members of Instruct ERIC: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Denmark, Israel, Finland, France, Belgium, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Spain. Greece and Slovenia were approved as new members at this meeting. This research infrastructure consists of 11 centers, which provide services in various areas associated with Structural Biology: mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance, protein production, virus production, computational biology, and bioinformatics, among others; and two research sites focused on training and networking activities, one of which is located in Portugal.

The coordinating network for national representation in Instruct ERIC is PCISBIO (Portuguese Centre for Integrated Structural Biology), a consortium that encompasses the national infrastructures PTNMR – National Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Network and RNEM – National Mass Spectrometry Network, both of which are part of the National Roadmap for Research Infrastructures.

The national community's collaborations with Instruct ERIC have been growing, and the report on Portugal's participation in 2022 illustrates the national participation in the activities and opportunities offered by this infrastructure.

In 2024, Portugal will host the Instruct ERIC Biennial Conference on Structural Biology in Cascais, from May 22 to 24.