Huge boost for electron microscopy thanks to NWO grant
Leiden University, together with Utrecht University, the LUMC and 10 other Dutch universities and institutes, has been awarded a grant of more than €30 million in the NWO call Roadmap Large-scale Scientific Infrastructure (GWI).
‘This grant brings Dutch electron microscopy back to the highest level.’
The money will be used to upgrade the national electron microscopy infrastructure, including the purchase of a new super-resolution electron microscope for NeCEN in Leiden and the opening of a second NeCEN facility in Utrecht. ‘This grant will restore Dutch electron microscopy to the highest level.’
The EMPower proposal is a national project with partners from Leiden, Utrecht, Groningen, Amsterdam, Delft, Maastricht, and Nijmegen. Leiden participants include NeCEN (Netherlands Centre for Electron Nanoscopy), LIC (Leiden Institute of Chemical Research) and IBL (Leiden Institute of Biology), all from the Faculty of Science and the Department of Cell and Chemical Biology at LUMC.
Magnify millions of times
The Netherlands Centre for Electron Nanoscopy (NeCEN) is a national facility at the Faculty of Science where researchers examine super-small protein structures: so small that you cannot even see them with a regular microscope. NeCEN helps scientists from across the country to study these tiny structures in order to understand fundamental processes in cells, identify the causes of diseases and develop new medicines. Using the super-resolution electron microscope, researchers can visualise protein structures that are up to 100 million times smaller than a metre.
‘It is a wonderful collaboration, involving a large number of investors. Scientists from all over the Netherlands bring their samples to Leiden Bio Science Park, and soon they will also be coming to Utrecht when we open our second NeCEN facility there.’
New discoveries in the field of protein and molecular structures
Meindert Lamers, director of NeCEN, is delighted with the award. ‘This will enable us to bring electron microscopy in the Netherlands back to the highest level, allowing us to make new discoveries in the field of cellular and protein structures. With the new super-resolution electron microscope, we will be able to produce even more precise images with less noise. It is a wonderful collaboration involving a large number of investors. Scientists from all over the Netherlands bring their samples to Leiden Bio Science Park and soon also to Utrecht when we open our second NeCEN facility there.’
‘Our faculty is the national centre for cryogenic electron microscopy, and this grant will enable us to further build on that expertise.’
Faculty of Science Dean Jasper Knoester: ‘It is wonderful that this grant has been awarded, both for our faculty and for the Netherlands. Many researchers and administrators from across the country have worked hard on this for almost two years. This grant will enable us to strengthen the infrastructure that is so important to the life sciences in our country. It will enable numerous researchers to achieve major breakthroughs in the coming decades. Our faculty is the national centre for cryogenic electron microscopy, and this grant will enable us to further build on that expertise. This will benefit our researchers and all fellow researchers who can make use of our facilities.’
Marcellus Ubbink, scientific director of the LIC: ‘It is a wonderful boost, also for the rapidly growing group of researchers in Leiden who use electron microscopy. Within our institute, this will further strengthen research into the causes of diseases and new medicines.’