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30.09.2025CCiTUB joins the European platform Instruct-ERIC
The University of Barcelona, through the CCiTUB, has joined the Instruct-ERIC (“Instruct-European Research Infrastructure Consortium”) platform , a pan-European research infrastructure dedicated to structural biology. This consortium provides access to advanced technologies, specialized training, and scientific-technical services for researchers, academics, and industry worldwide.
The goal of Instruct-ERIC is to drive progress in structural biology and foster technological development in key techniques for this field of science, such as nuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray crystallography, or transmission electron microscopy, among others. The consortium offers open access to cutting-edge research and specifically supports projects that employ integrated approaches and technologies, those that combine or are used jointly to tackle complex problems.
The CCiTUB are joining this platform by initially offering access to the most advanced services of our Resonance and Magnetism Unit. This integration is the result of a long-standing trajectory and expertise in NMR applied to structural biology, strengthened in recent years thanks to the Integrated Structural Biology Infrastructures network (ISBIN), and represents a major success for the University of Barcelona and its partners, reaffirming it as a key center in this field in Southern Europe.
Through Instruct-ERIC, researchers from around the world will be able to access our facilities, collaborate on multidisciplinary projects, and benefit from cutting-edge technologies for studying biomolecular structures. In this way, the CCiTUB NMR laboratory will become one of the main international meeting points in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance and a facilitator of collaborations between researchers from the University of Barcelona and the 17 entities that are members of the consortium.
Instruct-ERIC
The distributed research infrastructure consortium Instruct-ERIC was created under the ESFRI program (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures) and obtained ERIC status in 2017.
Currently, 17 countries and organizations have joined the consortium as members. Each member pays an annual fee, allowing scientists from those countries to submit proposals to access the catalogue of services and technologies, apply for training placements and funding for pilot R&D projects, and receive specialized training. Instruct-ERIC services are also available to researchers from non-member countries through collaboration or the “Pay-for-Access” model.
Through Instruct-ERIC, researchers worldwide can carry out projects at other European facilities of the platform and receive support and access to services at no cost. Researchers interested in applying for Instruct-ERIC services may do so at any time through the ARIA platform. Proposals are reviewed every two months by a panel of experts, although special calls with defined submission deadlines are also published periodically.
CCiTUB Resonance and Magnetism Unit
The unit specializes in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques applied to biomolecules such as globular proteins, intrinsically disordered proteins, peptides, and nucleic acids, in order to address complex questions related to structure, dynamics, and molecular interactions. This enables a detailed study of these compounds from multiple perspectives. Additionally, the Resonance and Magnetism Unit of the CCiTUB is also specialized in magnetometry and pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance techniques.
As a result of the funding received in recent years, the Unit now has two unique new instruments: a very high-field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectrometer operating at 1.0 GHz (23.5 T), the first of its kind in Europe, and an electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer capable of operating in both X-band (10 GHz) and Q-band (35 GHz) modes, in continuous wave and pulsed configurations, including a cryostat for low-temperature measurements (down to 4 K).
In addition, the CCiTUB Nuclear magnetic resonance laboratory (NMR) is part of the Biomolecular NMR Laboratories Network (R-LRB), a Unique Scientific and Technical Infrastructure (ICTS) recognized by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. This network brings together very high-field NMR facilities for the study of biomolecules, thereby providing researchers with open access to its installations. All R-LRB nodes are also integrated into Instruct-ERIC, as are other major Catalan research infrastructures such as the Alba Synchrotron.
Access the news published at Instruct-ERIC: [+]
For more information about Instruct-ERIC calls: [+]