FESP Forum for European Structural Proteomics “A policy-oriented forum* for European structural genomics/proteomics to assess infrastructures and set a strategic research agenda” Who is coordinating FESP? Lucia Banci - Italy Wolfgang Baumeister - Germany Udo Heinemann - Germany Gunter Schneider - Sweden (Eurosync) Joel Sussman* - Israel *Funded by the EC as a SSA (specific support action)

3D-EM X-ray Crystallography BIOXHIT 3D-EM VIZIER 3D-REPERTOIRE European Structural Genomics in FP5* & FP6 NMR IP NoE + protein production + STREPs + protein production + STREPs CA, STREP E-MEP Targeted SG initiative NMR-Life FSG-V- RNA NDDP UPMAN IMPS HT3DEM Extend- NMR SPINE* 2006

What do we need? A refined analysis of the resources available and the gaps identified A set of strategic objectives for Structural Genomics/Proteomics (SG/SP) in Europe The identification of opportunities The commitment of the main stakeholders –Scientists: acadmic & biotech/pharma –Funding agencies: European & national –Politicians

Synchrotrons in Europe Workshop "Future Needs for Research Infrastructures in Biomedical Sciences“, Brussels, current X future large

From the idea to the think-tank: The Forum for European Structural Proteomics October 2003: SG workshop in Brussels June 2004: call for proposals July 2004: Eurosync meeting November 2004: FESP proposal (including Eurosync) December 2004: FESP presentation at the 1 st EU projects meeting in Barcelona January-June 2005: First meetings, positive evaluation, project negotiations July 2005: Official start of the project 2006: FP7 preparation and launching June 2007: Official end of the project

FESP may help in… Defining the field and the objectives: they provide the basis for the future research priorities. Assessing the needs for example by a detailed study on the availability and performance of the infrastructures and national resources. Identifying the bottlenecks and co-ordinating the efforts in addressing them in a joint effort. Building gateways between disciplines to train our first generation of “Structural Genomicists”. Giving visibility to the field by highlighting its achievements OBJECTIVE: The definition of a long-term EU strategy for Structural Biology

Some specific objectives Assessment of Infrastructures in Europe: synchrotrons (EUROSYNC), NMR facilities, EM, protein production, bioinfomatics… Clustering/networking, establishing discussion fora and gateways between disciplines & projects; and industry (pharma/biotech). To disseminate best practices and success stories related to the big collaborative projects, national and worldwide initiatives. To debate and elaborate a proposal on the current/future policies needed for SG/SP in Europe (at national and European levels). To get media and institutional visibility by highlighting the achievements and challenges of SG/SP in a position paper). 3D-EM UPMAN NDDP GeneFun

We need to be able: ’to see biomolecules & complexes dancing in the cell’* *Dino Moras ( Montecatini, IT, 31-Aug-2005)

FESP: Forum for European Structural Genomics EuroSync: European Synchrotron Radiation Users Group EuroSync: Steering Committee (5 members) EuroSync Reference Group (16 users, 4 synchrotron representatives)

Objectives of EuroSync Assessment of synchrotrons from a users perspective Survey of available MX beam lines in Europe Present/future status of these beam lines Current and future beam time requirements for SG/SP in particular and structural biology in general What type of beam lines and associated infrastructure will SG/SP users require Is there a need for dedicated beam lines for SG/SP