Meeting of Central-Eastern European Structural Biology Consortium

ECM-19 - Nancy, France, 29th August 2000

*

Minutes

Present:

1. Guy Dodson myers@yorvic.york.ac.uk UK

2. Eleanor Dodson ccp4@yorvic.york.ac.uk UK

3. Jindrich Hasek hasek@imc.cas.cz CZ

4. Mariusz Jaskolski mariuszj@amu.edu.pl PL

5. Maciej Kozak mkozak@amu.edu.pl PL

6. Valadimer Lunin Pushino Russia

7. Jaromir Marek marek@chemi.muni.cz CZ

8. Dubravka Matkovic-Calogovic dobravka@chem.pmf.hr Croatia

9. Alexandre Popov Hamburg/Russia

10. Dusan Turk Dusan.Turk@ijs.si Slovenia

11. Alexandre Urzhumtsev sacha@lcm3b.u-nancy.fr FR

12. Alexei Vaguine alexei@ysbl.york.ac.uk

13. Jitka Vevodova Brno CZ

14. Keith Wilson keith@yorvic.york.ac.uk UK

Apologies:

1. Graham Bentley bentley@pasteur.fr FR

2. Anita Lewit-Bentley anita@lure.u-psud.fr FR

3. Clare Sansom c.sansom@mail.cryst.bbk.ac.uk UK

4. Imrich Barak umbibara@savba.savba.sk SK

Introduction

The meeting was opened by Mariusz Jaskolski, who has acted as coordinator for the past two years.

Matters arising from the minutes of the Glasgow meeting, August 1999

1) Means of contact

An electronic bulletin board, a list of email addresses, and a Web site have been set up at: http://www.man.poznan.pl/CBB/EASTRAL/

This allows easy communication and has been used to make quick contact with the members: there are representatives from Poznan, Lodz, Cracow, Prague, Brno, Bratislava, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Budapest, and Russia. Two examples are: (i) NATO required a significant number of Eastern Europeans to attend the Erice meeting in June, and the Consortium email-address list was used to recruit participants on short notice; (ii) it has proved useful for fast exchange of information when preparing EU applications (Centre of Excellence initiative of Imrich Barak; RTNetwork initiative coordinated from BBK).

2) Royal Society initiative

Guy Dodson reported on the progress of the application from the Consortium.

This is for limited funds (4000-5000 pounds a year) to fund 3-6 short visits to the UK from consortium members. The idea is that there will be a fast response to applications and it should provide opportunities for discussion and meetings. There had been some initial reluctance to fund a group based on a single discipline, however the application was re-considered and the results should be known shortly. Provided the program is approved, enquiries should be made initially through the Coordinator. Recognition of the EASTRAL consortium by the Royal Society should

also help in other joint applications such as those to the EU. This scheme does not preclude applications to the Royal Society for longer-term exchange fellowships for research visits to or from the UK. These are decided on an individual basis. The local Academy must make a nomination, and a host laboratory should write a letter of support.

3) Workshops and Training Meetings

Several are planned and funds are available:

a) Erice - Some NATO funds earmarked specifically for Eastern Europeans.

b) October 1-4, BioXSR: Biocrystalography with Synchroton Radiation - Future Perspectives (funded by The European Round Table for Synchrotron Radiation and Free Electron Laser).

c) June 3-17, 2001, Poznan/Warsaw: HHMI-sponsored U.S. NRC Lab Course Determination of High-Resolution Structures for the Post-Genomics Age (25 students).

d) MAXINF

Under Framework V the EU has funded a network called MAXINF, to organise and fund workshops and training sessions. All Framework V member states will be eligible to nominate participants. The first large meeting will be in Como in May 2001.

4) Access to data collection facilities

a) Symchrotons

All Framework V members: i.e. Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, can apply to the following European synchrotons: Hamburg, Lund, Lure, Trieste. Support includes the costs of travel and subsistence.

b) Rotating Anodes: Poznan and Ljubljana have time to share.

5) Granting bodies to consider for applications

a) The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has announced another call for proposals from Eastern European countries (now closed).

b) There are opportunities within the EU.

c) The INTAS initiative is still accepting applications.

d) Anita Bentley had pointed out that all Framework V member states are eligible for Marie Curie fellowships, and that there have been very few applications.

6) Next coordinator

According to an agreement among the Consortium members, the posts of the Coordinator and Vice Coordinator are filled by general acceptance for two-year terms. As a rule, the past Vice should become the current Coordinator to ensure continuity and minimise organisational burden. During the Consortium's first term, Mariusz Jaskolski (Poznan) served as the Coordinator, and Imrich Barak (Bratislava) as the Vice Coordinator.

Mariusz Jaskolski formally nominated Imrich Barak for the post of Coordinator. A formal consent for this nomination had been submitted by email. There were no other nominations. The proposal was unanimously accepted by all present.

Mariusz Jaskolski formally nominated Jindrich Hasek (Prague) for the post of Vice Coordinator. The nominee confirmed his consent. There were no other nominations. The proposal was unanimously accepted by all present.

Current representation of the Consortium:

Coordinator: Imrich Barak, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia, umbibara@savba.savba.sk

Vice Coordinator: Jindrich Hasek, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, The Czech Republic, hasek@imc.cas.cz

The posts are for two years, i.e. until September 2002.

Minutes submitted by

Eleanor Dodson, York