School aims and scope

The international school aims at providing a thorough background in physical and chemical surface characterization, based on methods and instruments, to interested PhD students, post-docs and scientists working at European and non-European universities and laboratories. The school will cover the different aspects of surface analysis and appropriate analytical techniques in detail, from the most conventional (Raman spectroscopy, AFM/STM, IBA) to the most innovative requiring Synchrotron X-ray (X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray microscopy, X-ray diffraction/scattering). The complementarity between laboratory and X-ray based techniques will be presented.

Plenary lectures and tutorials are given by specialists of materials science, solid state-physics, physico-chemical interface from CEA, Synchrotron SOLEIL and Paris Sud University. A substantial part of the programme is devoted to practical sessions carried out on cutting edge instruments, at the facilities of partner institutes and laboratories. In addition, a practical exercise on how to prepare a successful beam time proposal is given, as well as a poster session and a tour of SOLEIL. Examples presented during the lectures cover the variety of existing applications to physics and chemistry of condensed matter.

The attendees will be able to discuss their own projects with the speakers and other participants.

A workshop will be held at the University of Huddersfield to discuss the development and application of future Muon sources.

Organised with the support of the European Union 7^th Framework Programme, this will be a joint meeting between the Accelerator Applications Network of EuCARD2 (http://eucard2.web.cern.ch) and the Muon Joint Research Activity within the Neutron and Muon Integrated Infrastructure Initiative (http://nmi3.eu).

The aim of the meeting is to bring together scientists and engineers involved in the development and application of accelerator-based muon sources to discuss and exchange ideas about the requirements for future facilities.
The meeting will consider new technologies required for the production of novel muon beams, such as Ultra Slow beams and the Muon Microscopes, while taking a forward look to new applications of muon techniques in academia and industry.

The Joint Users' Meeting of the synchrotron light source ANKA and the Karlsruhe Nano-Micro Facility KNMF will be organized in two sections this year, with an update of the current status of ANKA and the KNMF as well as research highlights of users on the 13th of October. KIT scientists will introduce users and especially students to the three special themes with a topical breakfast meeting on Monday. Parallel sessions on "Synchrotron- and lab-based lithography" and "Research using synchrotron-based infrared spectroscopy" will take place the second day. Many different training courses for users will be provided at ANKA Tuesday afternoon.

As part of the celebration of the International year of Crystallography (2014), Indian National Science Academy (INSA), New Delhi and Regional Centre for Biotechnology (RCB), Gurgaon are jointly organizing a Symposium-cum-Workshop entitled "Frontiers of Structural Biology: New Advances in X-ray Diffraction and Cryo-electron Microscopy" during December 15-17, 2014 at INSA premises witha view to bringing together leading scientists in the field to discuss the major new advances in Structural Biology. The meeting will focus primarily on progressive developments in macromolecular crystallography, Cryo-electron Microscopy and X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) Sources for structure determination.

The three day event will feature keynote lectures, poster presentations and workshop tutorials by distinguished experts from India and overseas. The workshop is highly encouraging participation of young scientists from India as well as the South Asian and Asia-Pacific region.

Advances in microscopy have seen the advent of super resolution imaging, mapping single molecules down to <8 nm resolution compared with conventional light microscopy that achieves only ~250 nm. This Hot Topic Event will provide an interdisciplinary forum covering new technological developments, wider-scale applications, and potential commercialization of super resolution imaging.

Topics

• Single molecule studies at the plasma membrane
• Super resolution imaging in 3D
• 'Working small' in vivo
• Future directions and applications of super-resolution imaging

The course provides theoretical and practical training covering the full breadth of cryo-electron microscopy techniques from sample preparation to data collection to image processing. This breadth fosters integration of knowledge and methods. There is a focus on theory and practice of image processing for three-dimensional reconstruction. The course is aimed at PhD-students and PostDocs, who have some experience in EM and want to use cryo-electron microscopy/tomography and/or learn advanced image processing. Students should be able to return to their home labs and use the techniques they have learnt at the course in their projects.

The 2014 Kuo Symposium on 3D Cryo-EM Molecular Imaging to be held July 28 - 30, 2014, in Shanghai, China. There will be a two-day workshop: The 7th K. H. Kuo Summer School of Electron Microscopy & Crystallography (July 26 - 27) immediately before the symposium. The symposium is partially sponsored by the K.H. Kuo Education Fund and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The scientific program is being arranged by an organizing committee that includes Huilin Li (SUNY Stony Brook, USA), Yifan Cheng (UCSF, USA), Yao Cong (SIBCB, China) and Yongning He (SIBCB, China).

As a background, the annual EM meeting series is named after the late Prof K.H. Kuo, a prominent electron microscopist who discovered quasi-crystals and first introduced cryo-EM to China, who also trained a generation of electron microscopists in China, including some of us organizing this symposium/summer school. The Kuo Education Fund was established by his over 100 former graduate students as a tribute to Kuo as a great scientist and a loving mentor. The subject of the school series alternates between biology and material science. The cryoEM meeting has evolved from a summer school aimed to bring modern cryoEM technology to Chinese students into an important international symposium in the field of cryoEM in Asia. It has witnessed rapid growth of cryoEM community in China as well as other Asia countries. The last (3rd) biological cryo-EM meeting was held in Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) in September 2012 and was chaired by Hong Zhou ( http://cryoem.csp.escience.cn/dct/page/1) and attended by students from mainland China, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore and Europe.

Scope

The joint conference will cover a wide range of topics related to functional imaging of nanomaterials by various techniques including Scanning Probe Microscopy (Piezoresponse Force Microscopy â€" PFM, Electrochemical Strain Microscopy â€" ESM, Kelvin Probe Microscopy â€" KPM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Optical Microscopy (Confocal Microscopy â€" CM, Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy â€" SNOM, and Raman Microscopy â€" RM). The Youth Conference will consist of an extensive tutorial and scientific conference on nanoscale phenomena in ferroelectrics, ionic conductors, and polar biomaterials.

PFM-2014 main topics

• Instrumental aspects of PFM, ESM, KPM, SNOM, and related techniques as applied to functional nanomaterials
• Ferroelectrics, piezoelectrics, and ionic conductors on the nanoscale
• Multiferroic phenomena and magnetoelectric coupling on the nanoscale
• Disordered ferroelectrics, domains, and mesoscopic effects
• Ferroelectric data storage and polarization lithography
• Ferroelectric photovoltaics and tip-enhanced phenomena
• Interface and domain engineering
• Biocompatible & organic polar materials on the nanoscale
• 1D and 2D nanostructured materials
• Theory and modeling

2014 Topics

Biomacromolecular complexes and assemblies (protein-RNA/DNA complexes, e.g., viruses, ribosomes; quaternary protein structures; DNA, proteins, polyelectrolytes). The lecturers will describe related problems and discuss approaches to solutions, e.g.:

• spectroscopies (NMR, EPR, FTIR, Raman, MS…)
• microscopies (AFM, fluorescence techniques, tweezers…)
• diffraction methods
• computational solutions, modeling and simulations

Lecturers

• Nenad Ban, ETH, Zürich, Switzerland: Protein structure & function; X-ray diffraction
  • Ribosomes and their functional complexes
  • Beyond the prokaryotic ribosome
• Jasna Brujic, NYU, New York, USA: Soft matter, statistical physics; single molecule experiments-AFM
  • Emulsions and packing
  • Single-molecule AFM studies
• Mario Cindrić, RuÄ'er BoÅ¡ković Institute
  • Mass Spectrometry for protein sequencing
• Yves Engelborghs, KU Leuven, Belgium: Fluorescence microscopy and spectroscopy
  • Time resolved fluorescence spectroscopy of proteins
  • Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy : an elegant way to study molecular interactions.
• Helmut Grubmueller (COST lecturer), MPI-BPC, Göttingen, Germany: Theoretical and Computational Biophysics
  • Forces and Conformational Dynamics in Biomolecular Nanomachines 1,2
• Jané Kondev, Brandeis University, USA
  • Chromosome Folding in Cells
  • Transcriptional Regulation
• Pierre-Emmanuel Milhiet, Centre de Biochimie Structurale, Montpellier, France: High-performance AFM, membrane proteins imaging
  • Near field microscopies in structural biology
    
  • AFM imaging in the field of biological membranes
  • New developments in Bio-AFM imaging
• Lennart Nilsson, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden: Molecular modeling, nucleic acids, peptides and their interactions
• Chris Oostenbrink, UNRLF, Vienna, Austria: Structure and dynamics of biomolecules; modeling
  • Ensembles and sampling, leading to molecular dynamics simulations
  • Structure refinement using molecular dynamics simulations (NMR observables)
  • Calculation of free energies from molecular simulation
• Frances Separovic, University of Melbourne, Australia: NMR and Structural Studies of Membrane-Active Peptides
  • Solid-state NMR of membrane-active peptides
  • Membrane interactions of antimicrobial and amyloid peptides
• Ana-Sunčana Smith, RuÄ'er BoÅ¡ković Institute & Uni Erlangen-Nürnberg Germany: Membranes and vesicles, cell adhesion
  • Membranes, from self assembly to rafts 1,2,3
• Holger Stark, MPI-BPC, Göttingen, Germany: Protein structure& function; cryoEM
  • Introduction into single particle cryo-EM
  • High-resolution structure determination of macromolecular complexes by cryo-EM
• Heinz-Jürgen Steinhoff (COST lecturer), University of Osnabrück, Germany: Macromolecular Structure, EPR
  • Principles of site-directed spin labeling EPR
  • Site-directed spin labeling EPR of biomacromolecules, complexes and assemblies
• Antonio Å iber, Institute of physics, Zagreb, Croatia: Physics of viruses
  • Physics of viruses: electrostatics, elasticity and DNA condensation in viruses 1,2,3
• Iva Tolić, RuÄ'er BoÅ¡ković Institute & MPI-CBG, Dresden, Germany & RBI, Zagreb: Physics of cells, fluorescence-microscopy
  • Microtubules and motor proteins 1, 2
• Anthony Watts, Department of Biochemistry, Oxford, UK: Protein structure& function; solid state NMR
  • Principles of solid state NMR for the study of biomolecules
  • Solid state NMR for structural studies of large integral membrane proteins
  • Receptor dynamics and structure in membranes resolved using solid state NMR
• Bojan Žagrović, MFPL, Vienna, Austria: Computational Biophysics of Macromolecules
  • More dynamic than we think? On conformational averaging in structural biology 1, 2
  • Protein-RNA interactions and the origin of the genetic code

Program Committee

• Dr. Sanja Tomić RuÄ'er BoÅ¡ković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia (chair)
• Dr. Fraser MacMillan, CM1306 COST Action Chair, University of East-Anglia, UK
• Prof. Ana-Sunčana Smith Uni Erlangen-Nürnberg Germany, Germany
• Dr. Antonio Å iber Institute of Physics, Zagreb, Croatia
• Dr. Iva Tolić MPI-CBG, Dresden, Germany
• Prof. Bojan Žagrović Max F. Perutz Laboratories GmbH, Laboratory of Computational Biophysics Department of Structural and Computational Biology, Campus Vienna, Austria

AIMYoung scientists studying membrane phenomena may be bewildered by the wide range of biophysical techniques which are currently used to study their properties. The aim of the course is to provide participants with a solid grounding in biophysical techniques so that they will not only be able to understand the literature in their area better, but will also be able to decide for themselves the advantages and disadvantages of applying particular methods in their research. Expert advice on specific problems will also be available. In addition, the course is an excellent networking opportunity. Students will meet some prominent biophysicists in the membranes field, and other young scientists from all over Europe, in an attractive and convivial environment.

EBSA COURSE

EBSA is continuing its Advanced Courses on Biophysics, and due to popular demand, this is third of the series is focussing on Membrane Biophysics and Lipid Protein Interactions. This 5-day Advanced course is for PhD students, post-docs and young scientists. The registration includes full accommodation (housing and meals) and is heavily subsidised by EBSA to ensure widest possible participation. The number of Participants is limited to 60. EBSA also supports the 12th Greta Pifat International School of Biophysics.

COURSE FORMAT

Morning : the course will consist of plenary lectures by specialists in the field of membrane biophysics using most methodologies as applied to membranes (NMR, X-rays, AFM, Electron Microscopy, Fluorescence, Calorimetry, IR & Raman, Molecular Dynamics, etc.). Afternoon : Cases studies will be presented by teachers to small groups of participants to ensure maximum involvement of all participants. Round table discussions, where participants will also present their ongoing work and for which they may need advice from specialists, will follow.

This is an advanced course in X-ray microanalysis using energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometry (EDS). The prerequisite is successful completion of INS-510: Scanning Electron Microscopy or an equivalent level of experience. The course will provide instruction and hands-on practice on performing EDS, analyzing difficult samples, mapping, and interpreting analysis results.

Course outline

• Brief review of the theory of X-ray generation
• Optimizing X-ray detection
• Qualitative X-ray strategies for difficult samples
• Performing matrix correction and quantitative analysis
• Elemental line profiling and spectral imaging
• Interpreting EDS data

This Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) imaging course is an advanced topics course and provides instruction and hands-on practice for getting the best possible SEM images, especially from difficult samples, or under challenging operating conditions. Signals and image generation, instrument operation, operating variables, image interpretation and applications of SEM will be studied through lectures and hands-on activities. Advanced SEM imaging topics such as very high resolution imaging and low voltage imaging will be covered.

• Sample preparation for SEM imaging   Â
  
• Optimizing microscopes for imaging
• Imaging at low vacuum
  
• Imaging at low accelerating voltages
• Very high resolution imaging
• Image analysis and interpretation

Two sessions available: 13 and 14 July 2014, and 14 and 15 July 2014

The conference was initiated by the German Committee "Condensed Matter Research at Large Facilities" (KEKM), the umbrella organisation of the Committees for Research with Neutrons (KFN), Synchrotron Radiation (KFS), Nuclear Sonds and Ion Beams (KFSI) and Accelerator Physics (KFB). It ties up to earlier SNI-conferences (Hamburg 2006, Berlin 2010) and is supposed to show the complimentarity of the methods and to boost the scientific exchange. The SNI2014 will offer the framework for a wide range of topics and for interdisciplinary networking. These are the main topics:

• Soft Matter
• Magnetism
• Nanostructures and Interfaces
• Biological Systems and Medicine
• Microscopy and Tomography
• Materials
• Structure and Dynamics
• Methods and Instrumentation
• Chemical Prozesses and Phase Transitions
• Matter under Extreme Conditions
• Particles and Nuclei

The main language of the conference is German, but English contributions are admitted.

Conference devoted to the development and application of electron and probe microscopy in solid state physics, materials science, chemistry, geology, biology, medicine, nanotechnology and and industry. The program of the Conference includes original talks, poster communications, round tables and informal discussions of present-day achievements in scanning electron microscopy.

Topics

• Transmission electron microscopy (analytical, low-voltage, scanning).
• Â Electron microscopy in the studies of new materials, nanostructures included.
  
• Methods of electron diffraction and electron crystallography. Electron optics and new instruments.
• Probe scanning microscopy.
• Scanning electron microscopy.
• Focused electron and ion beams in the analysis of materials.
• Electron and ion lithography.
  
• Electron and probe microscopy in chemistry and geology.
  
• Electron, probe and focal scanning microscopy in biology and medicine.

The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP, Trieste, Italy), in cooperation with iThemba Labs - National Research Foundation (SA) Cape Town Campus, Stellenbosch, South Africa is organizing an Advanced School on Synchrotron Radiation Techniques and Nanotechnology: A Synergic Approach to Life Sciences and Medicine to be held in Cape Town, Stellenbosch, South Africa.Â

In the post-genomic era the emphasis has shifted from genes to proteins and to the understanding of their structure and biological function. The rapid development of nano-sciences has made available a new range of tools and approaches that have revolutionized biological and medical research, by allowing scientist to manipulate nano-particles and macromolecular objects and to monitor the behaviour of single molecules. Not only is this having a great impact on basic biological research, but its applications have become a driving and innovative force in the modern economic and industrial framework, particularly for health and biotechnology.

Topics will include:

• Macromolecular crystallography,
• Single particle electron microscopy,
• Small angle X-ray scattering,
• Computational biology,
• Nano-biophysics,
• High resolution atomic force microscopy,
• Nano-mechanics and tissue engineering.Â

The aim of the school is to introduce young researchers to the latest developments in the field of structural biology, nano-biophysics and nano-medicine and to their revolutionary impact on biotechnology, pharmacology and early diagnostics of widespread diseases. Potential applications range from low-cost diagnostic tools and therapeutics for neglected diseases (such as malaria, Dengue, AIDS) to the development of local biotechnology industry. A few practical sessions will provide the students with some hands-on experience in some of the subjects covered by the lectures.Â

Why a summer school named after Professor Ke Hsin Kuo?

Professor Ke Hsin Kuo (1923 - 2006) was a prominent electron microscopist and crystallographer. He attended Zhejiang University in the early 1940's. After studying and working in Sweden for ten years, he returned to China in 1956 and introduced electron microscopy to materials science research there. His discoveries of icosahedral, octagonal and decagonal quasicrystals in 1980’s and 1990’s placed him among the most influential electron microscopists and crystallographers in the world. Professor Kuo was also instrumental to the introduction of cryo electron microscopy to China. He served as President of the Asian Society of Electron Microscopy, President of the Chinese Society of Electron Microscopy, and Member of the Commission on Electron Diffraction of the Internal Union of Crystallography. Over the years, he trained more than 120 graduate students, most of them are currently active in scientific research. This school series is a tribute to Professor Kuo as a remarkable human being, a great scientist and a loving mentor.Â

The subject of the school series will alternate between biology and materials science.

• Â First School:
• • Â Beijing Workshop of Cryo Electron Microscopy in Structural Biology
  • Â Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, July 14 - 16, 2008
• Â Second School:
• • Â In-situ Electron Microscopy of Nanomaterials
  • Â Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China, July 15 - 17, 2009
• Â Third School:Â
• • Â International Workshop of 3D Molecular Imaging by Cryo Electron Microscopy
  • Â Institute of Biophysics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing, China,August 8-12, 2010
• Â Fourth School:
• • Â International electron microscopy Symposium on Materials
  • Â Institute of Metal,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Shenyang, China,July 11-15,2011
• Â Fifth School:
• • Â International Workshop of 3D Molecular Imaging by Cryo Electron Microscopy
  • Â University of Science and Technology of China,Anhui,China,September 7-12, 2012

Applications of Precession Electron Diffraction

14th - 15th September 2012Â

Materials Science Centre, The University of Manchester  Â

Precession electron diffraction has become an important tool for electron crystallographers, with applications in conventional crystallography, texture mapping and both real and reciprocal space tomography. This satellite school to EMC 2012 will concentrate on all aspects of precession and its applications. Â

Through both lectures and practical classes this school intends to give delegates first-hand experience of using the technique.

Third K. H. Kuo Summer School of Electron Microscopy and Crystallography

International Workshop of 3D Molecular Imaging by Cryo-Electron Microscopy

Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China August 8 - 12, 2010

In recent years, tremendous progress has been made in structural studies on biological macromolecules and assemblies using cryo-electron microscopy. As more and more genome projects for human and other organisms are completed, the focus of biological research is shifted to proteins, protein complexes, organelles and cells. Along with X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy, cryo-electron microscopy technologies are playing increasingly important roles in structural biology research.

To train the next generation of scientists in this exciting field, a workshop on cryo-electron microscopy of macromolecular assemblies will be held at Institute of Biophysics, Chinese academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, August 8 - 12, 2010. The workshop will give the emphasis on single particle analysis and electron tomography by cryo-electron microscopy. Both basic principles of these techniques and their state-of-the-art applications to biological systems will be taught at the school, and practical sessions will also be organized to show hand-on experience in cryo-electron microscopy as well as image processing and analysis techniques. Graduate students and postdocs who currently work in or who are interested in joining the field are particularly encouraged to attend. Importantly, a number of leading scientists will be lecturing at the school; young scientists will have plenty of opportunities to directly interact with these leading scientists.

In recent years, tremendous progress has been made in structural studies on biological macromolecules and assemblies using cryo-electron microscopy and electron crystallography. As more and more genome projects for human and other organisms are completed, the focus of biological research is shifted to proteins, protein complexes, organelles and cells. Along with X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy, cryo-electron microscopy and electron crystallography are playing increasingly important roles in structural biology research.
To train the next generation of scientists in this exciting field, a workshop on cryo-electron microscopy of macromolecular assemblies will be held at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, July 14-16, 2008. The workshop will cover electron crystallography, single particle cryo-electron microscopy, and electron tomography. Both basic principles of these techniques and their state-of-the-art applications to biological systems will be taught at the school, and practical sessions may also be organized to show hand-on experience in cryo-electron microscopy as well as various image processing programs. Graduate students and postdocs who currently work in or who are interested in joining the field are particularly encouraged to attend. Importantly, a number of leading scientists will be lecturing at the school; young scientists will have plenty of opportunities to directly interact with these leading scientists.

Electron Microscopy and Multiscale Modeling

Moscow, 3-7 September, 2007
This interdisciplinary meeting aims to bring together experts from several areas of modern crystallography and materials science and will focus on the link between methods of direct visualisation of structures at nano- and meso-scale based on electron microscopy and diffraction, and the rapidly expanding field of multiscale materials modelling. Electron microscopy and diffraction, together with other diffraction and high spatial resolution techniques, underpin the development and characterisation of new materials for nanoscience and nanotechnology, sustainable development and advanced power generation.
Electron microscopy and diffraction has been a traditionally strong area of international collaboration, while predictive multiscale modelling is a relatively new discipline that has already made a strong impact on the development of new materials and applications. Large-scale ab-initio density functional methods, mesoscale techniques, molecular and dislocation dynamics, and investigation of defects and phase transformations in materials, combined with image simulations and methods of quantitative interpretation of diffraction patterns and high-resolution spectra advance materials science in the area that has direct bearing on modern technology.
The meeting will be held from 3-7 September in the Institute of crystallography of Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.

The topics of the meeting include:

• Methods and techniques for direct visualisation and electron diffraction imaging of structures at nano-, meso- and macro-scale, application of these methods to the investigation of dynamical processes in materials in the bulk and at surfaces of materials, the structure and dynamical properties of defects, and high-resolution spectroscopy techniques;
• Density functional and related ab-initio approaches to modelling bulk and surface structures, and quantitative interpretation of electron diffraction patterns, high resolution electron energy loss spectra, as well as information obtained using other quantitative methods for the determination of structure and electron charge density;
• The structure and dynamics of defects, dislocations and grain boundaries, methods of direct imaging of defects, dislocations and grain boundaries, as well as other diffraction and related techniques, for example X-ray and neutron diffraction, and surface tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy;
• Methods based on in-situ mechanical deformation, and other techniques for in-situ modification of properties of materials, combined with modelling methods and approaches to the quantitative interpretation of in-situ observations;
• Applications of the above techniques to practical problems in materials science particularly related to advanced power generation, combating climate change, and security of energy supply.