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Innovation of the Czech Infrastructure for Integrative Structural Biology

• Project registration number: CZ.02.01.01/00/23_015/0008175
• Project duration: 1 January 2024 – 31 December 2026
• Principal Investigator: Jiří Nováček, PhD
• Estimated amount of funding: 288 058 213,78 CZK
• Project partner: Institute of Biotechnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences 
• Support programme: Programme Johannes Amos Comenius 

The aim of this project is to upgrade the integrative structural biology facilities in the shared laboratories of CIISB, the national node of the European research infrastructure Instruct-ERIC, to continue to provide the academic and industrial scientific community with access to top quality instrumentation and expertise. Integrative cell structural biology, supported by the CIISB infrastructure, is absolutely essential to address the demanding biomedical and biotechnological challenges of today and the future.

ACTIVITIES  OUTPUTS  OUTREACH EVENT 

Description of key activities:

Activity 1 - Project Management

CEITEC MU and the Institute of Biotechnology of the CAS (IBT) will conclude a Project Partnership Agreement prior to the start of the project, which defines the duties and obligations of both parties and the procedures for project management.  The project coordinator will be Mgr. Jiří Nováček, Ph.D., who will ensure consistency between the interests of users and strategies of the infrastructure, participating legal entities and research centres, national needs and the needs of the European INSTRUCT network. He will also manage the project team meetings. The team leader at the IBT will be Ing. Jan Dohnálek, Ph.D., who will be responsible for the local coordination of the part of the project implemented at the Vestec site. Operational activities in relation to the project will be provided by the management and administrative team, which will discuss the current progress of the project. The team will be led by an experienced project manager who will be responsible for the project team's agenda and minutes, project partnership communication with the funder, submission of change requests in accordance with programme rules, internal reporting, as well as coordinating audits and maintaining the risk register.  Other members of the team will be accountable to the Project Manager. The administrative team of CEITEC MU will be supported by a project and financial manager for the IBT, who will be responsible for all project-related administrative processes on the partner's side, i.e. for the preparation and completion of documents, participation in the preparation of tenders, risk management and coordination of activities of other administrative staff from the IBT support departments. The CIISB Executive Committee will discuss at its regular meetings significant changes affecting the strategic direction of the research infrastructure as a whole. The CIISB International Scientific Council will address the project at its meetings, taking into account the relevance of the planned investments, and make general recommendations to the CIISB Executive Committee on investment strategy, particularly in the light of radical technological change.

Activity 2 - Modernization and upgrade of large research infrastructure CIISB_ part of CEITEC MU

The modernisation of the instrumentation of the shared laboratories of CEITEC MU involved in the CIISB project is aimed at increasing the level of services provided to all users on the open access principle, so that it is qualitatively comparable with top foreign workplaces, and at keeping pace with the development of technology in terms of developments in given research areas and user needs. A summary list of the timing of instrument purchases is detailed in Section 5.2 - Project Objectives of the Feasibility Study. There will be a number of benefits from the acquisition of instruments or upgrades to existing equipment. The new technologies (e.g. fluorimeter, fraction collector, sample vitrification equipment, MAS probe for NMR spectroscopy, sample preparation functional unit for protein measurements in cells, QTOF mass spectrometer) will significantly enhance the functionality of the shared laboratories and thus expand the portfolio of samples measured, leading to an increase in the number of new unique users. Improving the functionality of the existing instruments by upgrading them (e.g. direct electron detector for cryo-electron microscope, upgrade of confocal Raman microscope, upgrade of sample preparation automation system in CF Proteomics) will allow, for example, to speed up sample preparation, measurement and data processing, which will also allow to increase the number of users. By improving the precision and limiting resolution of the measuring instruments (e.g. mass photometer, fast bioAFM for high resolution), the quality of the services provided will be improved and will allow the measurement of challenging samples. Upgrades and replacements of existing equipment at the end of its useful life (e.g. CD spectrometer, upgrade of AFM microscope control electronics, dual probe for NMR spectrometer, acquisition of helium liquefier) with newer and more energy efficient technology will extend the operating time of the instruments and at the same time reduce the energy intensity of laboratory operation and service costs.

Activity 3 - Building modifications at CEITEC MU

In this key activity, the following partial modifications will be implemented, which are necessary for the location of the helium liquefier:

• Installation of a helium gas piping system - this is the helium supply from the storage bundles of the cylinders in which the compressed helium captured after evaporation from the NMR technology is stored. Internally polished stainless steel piping will be installed through the existing underground corridor from room 1S107b/B07 to CEITEC MU room 1S48/C04, a pressure reducing station located in room 1S107b/B07, valves and a sampling panel in room 1S48/C04.
• Wiring - the supply will include the provision of power supply for the helium liquefier and the HVAC equipment for the hot air extraction including any necessary minor structural modifications. The supply will include a sub-panel, cables and circuit breakers. The switchboard design will be specified prior to implementation according to the actual requirements defined by the selected equipment supplier.
• Ventilation - due to the insufficient cooling capacity of room 1S48/C04 without the possibility of increasing it, the waste heat of the helium liquefaction technology will be solved by heat extraction outside the building. To ensure the heat generated by the helium liquefier is extracted, a partial liquefier cover will be installed so that maximum heat is captured and extracted by the HVAC system. Forced hot air exhaust from the liquefier will be ducted to the pavilion's central HVAC system exhaust, the connection will be made in the liquefier installation room. The existing anemostats providing extract air from room 1S48 will be fitted with flow controllers and will be controlled depending on the extraction of warm air from the liquefier. The fan shall be installed in such a way as to prevent noise and vibration from spreading into the building, e.g. by fitting a compensator.
• A control panel will be installed in the room to control the HVAC system, the system will only be operable when the liquefaction technology is running.

Activity 4 - Modernisation and upgrade of the CIISB Large Research Infrastructure - part of the IBT

The modernisation of the BTU's instrumentation is aimed at developing cutting-edge research services in terms of the development of the field and the needs of users. The upgrade of the high-end mass spectrometer is necessary in view of the physical and moral wear and tear of the existing technology and increasing maintenance costs, and will bring higher measurement capacity and measurement capabilities on challenging samples. This is an investment in a technology that is very widely used. The renewal of the HPLC system and the acquisition of metabolomics software will allow for an extension of services and will bring high value to both existing and newly acquired technology and expertise in terms of research potential.

The upgrade of the crystallisation automation equipment is an investment in the area of enabling the efficient testing of conditions for the crystallisation of macromolecules. The purpose is to ensure error-free and long-term operation of high-end robotics with minimal maintenance costs. Upgrades to the diffractometer and small-angle scattering instrument are pursued to expand the use of existing expensive instruments for challenging experiments on difficult-to-measure samples, whether technical improvements, optimization of the signal obtained, or acceleration and improvement of the structural characterization of biomolecules in solution. The need for these upgrades stems from user requirements when performing increasingly challenging experiments on our devices.

The purpose of acquiring a new technology for the characterization of complex formation between molecules is a necessary outcome of following the trend of technology development in this field. New technologies provide better data and streamline measurements by providing several different techniques within a single instrument. The need for this new technology stems from user requirements to measure more challenging types of interactions. The new instrumentation is planned to streamline the Centre's highly demanded services and to enable the development of production services in the field of eukaryotic expression. The investment is necessary given the workload and the increasing interest of research groups in these services.

Overview of project outputs:

Overview of project outputs to fulfil ERDF indicator - Number of modernised R&D workplaces

OUTREACH EVENT

DATE & TIME:

28 March 2026, 10:00–16:00 (last guided tour of the Core Facilities at 15:00)

VENUE:

CEITEC MU, Kamenice 5, Brno – Bohunice (entrance from Studentská Street)

TRANSPORT:

Tram No. 8 – terminal stop Nemocnice Bohunice

Trolleybus No. 25 – stop Univerzitní kampus

PROGRAMME:

The outreach event for the project Innovation of the Czech Infrastructure for Integrative Structural Biology will take place as part of Days of Electron Microscopy 2026 at CEITEC MU. Every hour, the project will be presented, followed by a guided tour of the Cryo-Electron Microscopy and Tomography Core Facility and the Nanobiotechnology Core Facility.

Registration is required for each tour. Please register for your preferred time slot via the registration form available here. Capacity is limited.

In addition to the professional programme, accompanying activities for both adults and children will be available throughout the day, ensuring an engaging experience for visitors of all ages.