This EMBO Workshop will cover the use of small angle scattering (SAS) of both neutrons and X-rays for the determination of the structures of biological macromolecules. Particular attention will be paid on this course to sample preparation and the analysis and interpretation of SAS data in a biological context. The aim of this course is to enable the participants to maximise the information gained from the SAS technique in their future experiments.

Small angle scattering is a powerful technique for determining the structures of biological molecules in solution. Not only can small angle scattering provide precise information concerning the size, molecular weight, volume and shape of single molecules but it can also provide detailed information from large, multi-component macromolecular complexes. For these purposes the scattering properties of neutrons are particularly well suited. Through the use of specific isotope labeling techniques and solvent contrast variation it is possible to determine the structural organisation of specific components within a large macromolecular assembly.

Taking advantage of the location of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) and the Institut Laue Langevin (ILL) on the same scientific campus in Grenoble, this course will focus on the complimentary use of X-ray and neutron small angle scattering for the determination of the structures of biological macromolecules. Through the use of lectures, tutorials and practicals it is intended to teach scientists new to the technique how to optimize their experiments to gain the maximum amount of information from these techniques. In particular the course will focus on:

• Small angle scattering theory
• Sample requirements for a successful small angle scattering experiment
• Data analysis, model building and interpretation
• Isotope labelling strategies for small angle neutron scattering
• Analysing small angle scattering in conjunction with data obtained from other techniques (NMR, AUC, EM, SEC-MALLS)

Register by: 1 March 2015

The workshop aims at enabling structural biologists to fully exploit the latest instrumentation and software development at the SNS and HFIR facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Attendees will participate in lectures and tutorials focusing exclusively on neutron techniques applied in structural biology. The workshop is designed for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and faculty new to or with limited experience of neutron scattering.

General Information

The unique potential of neutron scattering in structural biology arises from the strong interaction of neutrons with hydrogen (H) and its deuterium (D) isotope. This property makes the information available from neutron scattering unique and a valuable complement to data obtained from other structural techniques. Individual hydrogen/deuterium atoms are visualized in neutron density maps from crystallographic data at the resolution typical of most protein structures (2.0 -2.5 Ã...).Using H/D exchange  and contrast variation, proteins and nucleic acids are sequentially modeled and mapped in large biological complexes using small angle neutron scattering, protein-membrane interactions are revealed using Reflectometry and protein and water dynamics measured using spectroscopy.

The workshop includes a symposium, lectures and tutorials and tours of the High Flux Isotope reactor and Spallation Neutron Source, the world’s leading neutron research facilities.

The workshop is designed for graduate students, post-doctoral researchers and faculty with knowledge of protein function and structure but no or limited experience of neutron sciences.

Subjects include:

• Crystallography
• Small Angle Scattering
• Reflectometry
• Spectroscopy
• Imaging
• Labeling techniques

Course Objectives

1. Educate participants in neutron scattering techniques, instrumentation and data collection, analysis and interpretation.
2. Expose participants to cutting-edge research in neutron structural biology.
3. Build interactions between participants, their university groups, and ORNL neutron scattering experts to develop new research projects.

Application deadline: April 10, 2015

Travel and accommodation expenses are supported for selected participants from the United States. International applications are welcome. However the course organization is not able to support travel or accommodation.

The number of participants will be limited to 15. There is no registration fee for all selected participants.

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The application package consisting of 1) Information form, 2) CV, 3) Applicant motivation letter (1/2 to 1 page), 4) Principal Investigator letter of support (for graduate students only; 1/2 to 1 page), should be sent electronically to meilleurf@ornl.gov before April 10, 2015.

*The 2014 BCA-BSG Winter Meeting will take place on the European Photon and Neutron (EPN) Campus (hosting the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility and the Institute Laue Langevin), Grenoble, France on 15-17 December 2014. The meeting will be themed around opportunities for Structural Biology at large-scale research infrastructure and will include sessions addressing the combination of structural information from X-rays & neutrons in Structural Biology, Structural Biology on the EPN Campus, and Emerging Techniques in Structural Biology.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Arwen Pearson, CUI, Hamburg, Germany
• Cecilia Casadei, University of Leicester, UK
• Julia Richardson, University of Edinburgh, UK
• Selma Maric, Karolinska Institute, Sweden
• Stephen Cusack, EMBL, Grenoble
• Andrea Dessen, IBS, Grenoble
• Catarina da Silva, CEA, Grenoble
• Antoine Royant, IBS, Grenoble
• Gemma Newby, ESRF, Grenoble
• Manfred Burghammer, ESRF, Grenoble
• Matthew Bowler, EMBL, Grenoble
• Ulrich Zander, ESRF, Grenoble
• Estelle Mossou, University of Keele, UK/ILL, Grenoble
• Helmut Schober, Director of Science, ILL, Grenoble
• Elizabeth Duke, Diamond Light Source, UK

The first half of the meeting - supported by the UK Science & Technology Funding Council (STFC) - aims at presenting the strategic significance to the structural biology community of UK investment in large-scale research infrastructure. This part of the meeting will include visits to ESRF and ILL Experimental Facilities, a round table discussion and speakers including:

• Florent Bernaudat, Partnership for Structural Biology, Grenoble
• Harald Reichert, ESRF, Grenoble
• Colin Miles, BBSRC, UK
• Pamela Williams, Astex, UK
• David Scott, University of Nottingham, UK
• Adrian Mancuso, European XFEL, Hamburg, Germany
• Andrew Harrison, Diamond Light Source, UK
• Gordon Leonard, ESRF, Grenoble
• Trevor Forsyth, ILL, Grenoble

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The deadline for registration is the 8 December.

The programme includes a poster session. Contributions from younger and more senior scientists on any aspect of Structural Biology are actively encouraged.

 In order to help reduce the costs of attending the meeting, the registration fee (32EUR for students; 64EUR for regular participants) will include the cost of all meals during the meeting, including the meeting dinner on 16 December and as many participants as possible will be housed - at participants' own cost - in the cost effective ESRF/ILL Guesthouse. The registration fee also includes membership of the BCA for the year 2015.

Five Travel Bursaries, each of up to £200, are available from the BCA to support participation in the meeting by research students and postdoctoral workers who are BCA members. Please see http://crystallography.org.uk/prizes/bursaries/abbf-bursaries/ for details.

This International School will focus on the fundamentals of crystallization from solution and its applications to the field of the crystallization of biological macromolecules.

ISBC2015 will provide five days of lectures and practical demonstrations related to the crystallization of biological macromolecules, biominerals and biomimetic materials, with one full day devoted to case studies on the crystallization of membrane proteins, viruses and large macromolecular complexes

We invite students from all over the world to join us to learn from selected international experts, to hear case study presentations, to watch practical hand-on demonstrations, to participate in round-table discussions and to present their research results in the dedicated poster sessions.

The language of the School will be English.

The School will be held from the 24th to the 29th of May 2015 at Hotel San Antón in Granada (Spain).

Topics of the School

ISBC Granada 2015 will focus on the fundamentals of crystallization from solution and its applications for the crystallization of biological materials.

• Nucleation: Classical and non-classical approaches
• Crystal growth kinetics and mechanisms
• Properties of macromolecular solutions relevant to crystallization
• Screening: Searching for crystallization conditions
• Crystallization techniques: Batch, Vapour and Counter Diffusion, How do they work?
• Crystallization and diffusion transport: gels, microfluidics and microgravity
• Crystallization of large crystals for Neutron diffraction and tiny crystals for XFEL
• Polymorphism in protein crystals
• Robotics and crystallization
• Membrane Protein Crystallization: case studies
  
• Lipid cubic phase, bicelles and detergents
• Crystallization of Large Macromolecular Complexes:
• In vitro and in vivo studies of Biomineralisation processes

The 11th LANSCE School on Neutron Scattering: Materials at the Mesoscale, will focus on the influence of surfaces, interfaces, meso- and micro-structure on the functionality of materials. The nine day school will provide an overview and training, through hands-on exercises, of concepts, instrumentation, measuring techniques and data analysis in neutron scattering. Techniques such as: neutron diffraction, small angle neutron scattering, local structure determination, neutron reflectometry together with scanning electron microscopy will be covered.

We draw your attention to the 7th ILL Annual School on Neutron Diffraction Data Treatment using the FULLPROF suite, to be held in Grenoble at the Institute Laue-Langevin from 2 to 6 March 2015

We invite you to visit our website http://www.ill.eu/FPSchool2015/ for more information (applications can be submitted starting from 1^st November 2014).

Contributions are sought in the fields of metallurgy and materials forming; energy materials in realistic conditions; response of functional materials under parametric load; materials under extreme or exotic conditions. Particularly contributions using an innovative approach in their application or from the novel upcoming facilities with unprecedented possibilities are desired.
The methods shall cover time and lengths scales from sub-picoseconds to days and sub-angstrom to meters, respectively.

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Topics will include:

In-Situ Processes Â

• Time resolved
• Complex environments
• Extreme conditions

Single Grain Resolved Studies Â

• Embedded grain characterization
• Grain statistics
• Orientation relationships
• Subgrains

Strain Scanning Â

• Strains and residual stresses
• Multiple length scales
• Grain resolved strain

Texture Â

• Three-dimensional reciprocal space mapping
• Texture evolution
• Local texture

Liquid, Amorphous, Nanocrystalline and Distorted Materials Â

• Pair distribution function
• Diffuse scattering
• Phase transformations
• Local structure

Materials Imaging / Tomography Â

• Real time imaging
• High resolution tomography
• Combined diffraction tomography

Exotic and Novel Experimental Developments Â

• Coherent beam diffraction
• Fourier reconstruction
• X-ray photo-correlation spectroscopy
• Ultrafast processes
• The future arrived: X-ray free electron lasers

Shedding light on correlated electrons

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.

25 Years of Neutron & Synchrotron Radiation Science

This school provides training for students, postdoctoral and senior scientists from European and non-European universities and laboratories, in the field of Neutron and Synchrotron Radiation for condensed matter studies (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Materials Science, Geosciences, Industrial applications).

The 1-month school includes lectures (60%), hands-on practicals and tutorials at partner institutes (ESRF, ILL in Grenoble, Soleil and LLB near Paris, SLS in Switzerland) and Grenoble Laboratories (CEA, CNRS, EMBL, IBS).

The school includes a common part and two parallel sessions:
Biomolecular, soft condensed matter structure & dynamics,
Physics and chemistry of condensed matter

HERCULES is a yearly event, established in 1991.

Professor David L. Bish
Geological Sciences, Indiana University.

Tuesday 4 November 2014
5.30pm (followed by a networking reception at 6.30pm)

The objective of the Hercules Specialized Course is to combine theoretical and tutorial courses with practical lessons performed using neutrons and/or synchrotron radiation on state of the art instruments/beamlines. The practicals will take place at the European neutron (ILL) and synchrotron radiation (ESRF) facilities located in Grenoble.

The attendance will be limited to twenty participants (mainly PhD students and Post-Doc scientists) to allow an actual participation in the tutorials and practicals, and the interaction between the participants and the lecturers, as well as among the participants themselves.