Exploring the potential for an ISB Centre at Science Village Scandinavia
Examples from Hamburg in Germany and Grenoble in France show that there are many benefits of bringing together structural biology researchers in a dedicated centre – with laboratories, equipment, and physical spaces to meet.
At LINXS, a first workshop has been held to explore the potential to set up a similar structural biology centre in Sweden. It would be located between MAX IV and ESS, in Science Village Scandinavia, an area in the North-East of Lund currently being developed to house research, industry, and science outreach.
Karin Lindkvist is Integrative Structural Biology Core Group leader at LINXS, and Professor in Medical Structural Biology at Lund University.
– While there are many positives with a physical centre, we want to start with the community here in Lund. Is there an interest among researchers to do this? If it is, we need to figure out how to do it in an optimal way, says Karin Lindkvist, Integrative Structural Biology Core Group Leader at LINXS, and Professor in Medical Structural Biology at Lund University.
Representatives from the Centre for Structural Systems Biology in Hamburg and Partnership for Structural Biology in Grenoble were invited to the workshop to speak on benefits, and lessons learned from establishing a multidisciplinary centre bringing together researcher from various backgrounds. While each speaker had different perspectives, all agreed on the importance for a centre to have both the equipment and the physical spaces to meet.
– It is important to introduce what a multidisciplinary centre could mean for structural biology research – not just in Lund but in all of Sweden.
Unique opportunity for Lund University to develop neutron and x-ray science
The establishment of Science Village Scandinavia affords Lund University a unique possibility to develop its research and collaborations in new areas, especially within x-ray and neutron science according to Karin Lindkvist.
– Science Village Scandinavia can create a lot of added value for the University since it is situated so close to ESS and Max IV. It would make a lot of sense to establish the structural biology centre here since the research area is dependent on neutron and x-ray techniques. It also gathers researchers from the three largest faculties at the University. Rather than only moving a department, you create something completely new.
Await survey results
A survey has now been sent out to all the participants at the workshop to further gauge their needs and interest to set up a structural biology centre.
– We will now await the results of the survey. We have to find out if people want to move here; if they would like to do research here. That is a prerequisite for us to move forward with our ideas, she concludes.