Over the past decade, single particle electron cryo-microscopy (cryoEM) has become the method of choice for 3D structure determination of (large) biological macromolecules, offering several advantages over other techniques. This transformation from a niche technique into a widely used one has often been dubbed the ‘resolution revolution’. Behind this simple term lies a multitude of hardware and software improvements that have massively improved data quality and user-friendliness of the technique. Data acquisition and analysis are being increasingly automated, boosting the overall throughput of the method. Despite these developments, a successful use of the method still depends on acquired skills, experience and access to expensive scientific high-end equipment. The ever-increasing popularity of the method comes with the requirement for thorough training of young scientists planning to utilize single particle cryoEM in their future careers, as well as scientist at later career stages transitioning from other structural biology methods like X-ray crystallography, for example. The EMBL Imaging Centre in collaboration with the Heidelberg University is offering a 5-day autumn school covering all aspects of the single particle cryoEM workflow.

The workshop is aimed at PhD students, early career researchers as well as facility staff working in the field, who are new to or have just started utilizing single particle cryoEM in their research. The mixture of lectures and practical sessions by experts in the field will give – especially young researchers – the opportunity to deepen and broaden their knowledge in the field of single particle cryoEM and network with international specialists in the field. The presented cutting-edge techniques in this autumn school will allow the participants to dive into sample preparation for single particle cryoEM, microscope operation and data processing. Each lecture will be followed by a dedicated Q&A session and thanks to the compact nature of the school close interaction with lecturers and trainers, as well as networking opportunities are guaranteed throughout.

The autumn school will from 07^th to 11^th of October 2024. The course will be held at the EMBL Imaging Centre (Heidelberg, Germany), providing a well-established platform, work and training environment for single particle cryoEM with excellent leadership as well as expertise in the field to support the course. The infrastructure at EMBL hosting 200 (2x) and 300 kV cryo-TEMs (4x), plunge freezers (4x), as well as an established software infrastructure and computational resources (10s of GPUs) for data processing represents an ideal place to be hosting this type of school.

More information about the workshop and link to register can be find here.