Page 110 - ILLS Annual Report 2018

SCIENTIFIC SUPPORT LABORATORIES
PARTNERSHIP FOR SOFT CONDENSED MATTER
The Partnership for Soft Condensed Matter (PSCM) is a joint initiative established by the ILL and the ESRF in Grenoble, France. The main PSCM mission is to provide enhanced support services to ILL and ESRF users tackling contemporary challenges in soft matter research including nanomaterials, environmental and energy sciences, biotechnology and related fields. Currently the PSCM offers access to 13 laboratories hosting 25 major pieces of equipment as well as sample preparation facilities.
In addition to normal user operations, the PSCM is continually searching for new Collaborative Partners with whom to strengthen the soft matter research community by establishing long-term collaborations devoted to the development of specialised sample environments and instruments. In 2018, the call for Expression
of Interests for new Collaborative Partners attracted high-quality proposals from the soft matter user community of the ILL and ESRF. The evaluation of the proposals is ongoing.
The PSCM is located on the 2nd floor of the Science Building, along with the Soft Matter Science and Support group. Users wishing to use the PSCM laboratories and equipment in conjunction with neutron measurements should indicate this when submitting their request for beamtime.
Further details can be found at http://www.epn-campus.eu/pscm/.
PARTNERSHIP FOR STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY
The Partnership for Structural Biology (PSB) contains a powerful set of technology platforms, provided and operated by our various partner institutes (ILL, ESRF, EMBL, IBS).
These platforms include advanced capabilities that strongly complement the neutron-scattering facilities available to ILL users: synchrotron X-rays, electron microscopy, high-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), high-throughput methods (e.g. soluble expression and crystallisation), and a range
of biophysical techniques such as isothermal calorimetry
(ITC) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The PSB also includes the Deuteration Laboratory (see below), operated as a user platform within the ILL’s Life Sciences Group, and the joint SANS/SAXS platform. There is strong connectivity and collaboration between the ILL and ESRF life sciences/structural biology and industry groups.
The ILL, through its partnership with Keele University (UK), is now participating fully in the cryo-electron microscopy initiative being spearheaded by the ESRF. As of June 2019, a Keele University Faculty position, based in the Life Sciences Group
in Grenoble, will participate in the operations team of the Titan Krios microscope, with one of the main missions being to stimulate natural synergies with neutron scattering analyses of macromolecular systems.
The aim of the PSB is to enhance the interdisciplinary capabilities of each of the facilities located on the site and to widen the scientific scope of the external user communities. The Carl-Ivar Brändén building (CIBB) acts as home to the PSB and its partner organisations.
Check the website for more information: http://www.psb-grenoble.eu/.
ANNUAL REPORT 2018