Instruct-DE opens: Researchers gain access to cutting-edge technologies!

Instruct-DE opens: Researchers gain access to cutting-edge technologies!

Today, October 17, 2025, the German Instruct Center Instruct-DE will officially open at the Goethe University Frankfurt. This center is part of Instruct-ERIC, a research infrastructure recognized by the European Union, whose primary aim is to provide researchers in Europe with access to modern technologies and advanced methods from 17 partner countries. Germany joined this network as a partner country in 2024 and is now promoting access to technologies in the European partner countries that are important for structural biology.

The newly opened Instruct-DE plays a central role at the European level. It offers researchers from all over Europe access to important German infrastructures. The decentralized structure of the center is coordinated by the Goethe University, while a number of partner institutions such as the Helmholtz Zentrum München, the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin, DESY Hamburg and the University of Hamburg, the Center for Structural Systems Biology, which is essential for structural biology, are involved. The Research Center Jülich and numerous national partner institutions, including the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research in Braunschweig and the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, are also committed to working together.

Technological access and cooperation

Through the Instruct-DE center, researchers can access a broad technology catalog that integrates cutting-edge German technologies. Access to these technologies is available free of charge and is intended to significantly advance research in structural biology. Instruct-ERIC offers comprehensive equipment, including large-scale equipment such as NMR spectrometers, cryo-electron microscopes and synchrotron sources, which are already used by 16 member countries and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL).

By joining Instruct-ERIC, Germany also hopes to strengthen international cooperation. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is therefore planning to nominate three to four German research institutions as instruction centers. These institutions should not only remain organizationally independent, but should also be actively involved in the acquisition of third-party funding from Horizon Europe. The BMBF offers German universities and research institutions the opportunity to apply for a nomination, with the evaluation criteria including scientific excellence, technical performance and sustainable development.

Future outlook and conditions of participation

Applications for nomination must be submitted via the electronic system “Positron-S” by September 30, 2024. A written confirmation from the management of the respective institution is a fundamental requirement. The final decision on the nomination will be made by the general meeting of Instruct-ERIC. These structural innovations and the focus on interdisciplinary collaboration not only promise better access to high-end technologies, but also a valuable contribution to solving complex scientific questions in European research.

Prof. Dr. Clemens Glaubitz, spokesman for Instruct-DE at the Goethe University Frankfurt, highlights the importance of this center, which not only acts as a platform for German access to European technologies, but also as a pioneer for the next steps in international research collaboration in structural biology.

More information about developments surrounding Instruct-DE can be found on the website of Goethe University, the Health research and other partner institutions.