(2) The foundation of an EM structural database. It will serve as the standard repository for EM structures and provide the essential basis for a comparability of data and their facilitated exchange. Standard data formats and validation standards will be developed according to the demands of the 3D-EM consortium in close collaboration with existing structural databases in the EU and USA.

(3) The creation of a user-friendly software platform. Novel, standardised protocols for structural analysis will be elaborated in a joint effort of the research community and manufacturers. They will enhance the throughput and reduce the requirement for specialist-skills in structural analysis. The public dissemination of novel standard procedures through 3D-EM ultimately will allow state-of-the-art structural research to be performed all over Europe.

The 3D-EM Network of Excellence officially started operating on March 1, 2004. The project was kicked-off during a meeting at the Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, end of March 2004.

3D-EM Partner Institutions:

University Basel, Biozentrum, Basel, Switzerland
Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science, Germany: MPI of Biochemistry and MPI of Biophysics Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia, CSIC, Madrid, Spain
European Molecular Biology Lab, Heidelberg, D, and EMBL-EBI, Hinxton, United Kingdom
FEI Electron Optics B.V., Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sveden
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, France
Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France
Chemistry Center, Lund University, Lund, Sveden
University of Utrecht,
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Contact: Dr. Anne Katrin Werenskiold
kwerensk@biochem.mpg.de
49-89-8578-2601
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
6-Jul-2004