Renewal of the 600 MHz solid-state NMR console for biological applications

固体核磁共振具有独特的定位，可以提供复杂生物系统的原子分辨率结构和动态信息，与其他结构生物学和生物物理技术高度互补。它被生命科学和物理科学的研究人员用来解决从蛋白质到细胞甚至完整植物等系统中的复杂问题。这反过来又导致从可持续和有弹性的农业、安全营养食品、新药品和更好的健康到新的低碳“绿色”能源、材料和日常用品等关键领域的进步。在本提案中，我们要求用新的最先进的控制台和两个附带的核磁共振探针替换过时且经常故障的固态核磁共振控制台，以便能够更快地进行广泛的实验，而且在更具挑战性和复杂的系统上进行实验，从而解决与重要社会问题相关的更广泛的挑战。核磁共振探针有各种不同的规格，特别是具有不同的转子直径以及射频通道的数量和调谐范围-允许研究不同的同位素，例如氢，碳，氮和氟-不同的探针最适合不同的应用。升级的附加价值在于，随着时间的推移，还可以获得许多其他NMR探针，这些探针可以与新控制台一起使用，并从它的改进中获益。该设备将用于多用户和多学科的环境中，来自不同学科的科学家一起工作，以便最大限度地解决无法用单一的“灵丹妙药”科学方法解决的重要问题。这项建议的另一个重要方面是，它将使我们能够用最先进的设备培养新一代科学家。博士和博士后将受益于这种培训，他们可以作为独立的科学家在学术或工业环境中携带他们从中获得的技能和知识，并将其应用于应对新的挑战。最后，我们还建议为更广泛的科学界提供部分时间，在这个专门的仪器上进行“品尝”会议，在此期间他们可以测试这种方法是否可以为他们的科学问题提供答案。由于固态核磁共振的高度专业化，终端用户将得到当地科学家的支持，并可以利用他们的高水平专业知识。如果需要更长时间的项目，可以与有经验的当地科学家合作。

Solid-state NMR is uniquely positioned to provide atomic resolution structural and dynamic information on complex biological systems that is highly complementary to other structural biology and biophysical techniques. It is used by researchers in the life and physical sciences to address complex problems in systems ranging from proteins to cells and even intact plants. This in turn leads to advancements in key areas from sustainable and resilient agriculture, safe nutritious food, new pharmaceuticals and better health to new low-carbon 'greener' energy, materials and everyday products.In this proposal we request to replace an obsolete and often malfunctioning solid-state NMR console with a new state-of-the-art console and two accompanying NMR probes in order to be able to perform a wide range of experiments not only faster but also on more challenging and complex systems and thus tackle a wider set of challenges related to the important societal issues. NMR probes exist in a variety of different specifications, notably with different rotor diameters as well as the number and tuning range of the rf channels - allowing different isotopes to be studied, e.g., hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and fluorine - and different probes are best suited to different applications. The added value of the upgrade is that there is a number of other NMR probes acquired over time that could be used with the new console and benefit from presented by it improvements. This equipment will be used in a multiuser and multidisciplinary environment where scientists from different disciplines work together in order to maximise a chance of solving important problems that cannot be solved with a single "magic bullet" scientific approach. Another important aspect of this proposal is that it will enable us to train a new generation of scientists on a state-of-the-art equipment. PhD and postdocs, who would benefit from such training, could carry the skills and the knowledge they acquired as a result of it as independent scientists in academic or industrial setting and apply it to tackling new challenges.Finally, we also propose to make available to the wider scientific community part of the time on this specialised instrument for "taster" sessions during which they can test whether this methodology can provide answers to their scientific problems. Because of the highly specialised nature of solid-state NMR the end users would be supported by and could tap into the high-level expertise of the local scientists. If longer projects would be required, they could be pursued as collaborations with the experienced local scientists.