Utvärderingsrapport Svenskt NMR Centrum

Transcription

1 Dnr V2013/626 1 / 1 Utvärderingsrapport Svenskt NMR Centrum av Docent Perttu Permi The Finnish Biological NMR Center Naturvetenskapliga fakulteten Guldhedsgatan 5 A, Box 460, SE Göteborg , (fax)

2 SWEDISH NMR CENTRE, University of Gothenburg EVALUATION REPORT March 2014 The evaluation of the national research infrastructure, the Swedish NMR Centre, was mandated by the Faculty of Science at the University of Gothenburg. Dr. Perttu Permi (a short biography can be found in Appendix A) was appointed as an external reviewer to carry out the evaluation. The aim of this evaluation is to find a basis for continuous development of the Swedish NMR Centre. The emphasis in the review is put on finding whether the Swedish NMR Centre executes its mission in terms of user service, development of NMR techniques and the Centre s ambition to be sensitive to user requests. In the following pages, the evaluator will provide follow-up comments on the management and personnel, exchange with other infrastructural resources, investments, and user service. This report is based on background material about the NMR Centre (Self-assessment of the Swedish NMR Centre and Numbers regarding usage of the infrastructure) provided to the evaluator in January 2014 as well as on interviews in March To this end the assessor met and interviewed a number of selected individuals, associated with the Centre either as employers or users, on March 5th to 7th 2014 at the Faculty office at the University of Gothenburg. The draft of this report was sent to the Faculty Office for factual checking on 28 March before the report was finalized on April 23. Consequently, the evaluator takes full responsibility for the final version of the evaluation report.

3 2. Comments of the evaluator 2.1. General comments The Swedish NMR Centre at the University of Gothenburg, established in 1996 in a newly constructed Hasselblad Laboratory, has been serving as a national research technology platform. The aim of the Centre is to provide resources for application of high-resolution NMR spectroscopy, which in a broader context translates to national research infrastructure that provides support for both internal and external researchers in terms of state-of-the-art NMR instrumentation and scientific expertise on various projects utilizing NMR spectroscopy. While the Centre was initially devoted mainly to applications in structural biology, in 2008, a strategic choice was made to both deepen and broaden the activities. Instead of focusing solely on structural biology, an approach to material scientists was made by investing, together with the Chalmers University of Technology, into a solid state NMR instrumentation and to a NMR system capable of diffusion studies. Since 2010 the Centre has been a member of the transnational infrastructure consortium Bio-NMR, funded by the EU frame program 7, and in 2012 the Centre became part of the SWEDSTRUCT research infrastructure, funded by VR-RFI. In 2013, significant funding from the KAW foundation was obtained for the NMR for Life project with activities that reach beyond structural biology, now also including metabolomics and chemical biology. With the support by the KAW foundation, upgrade of electronics and probeheads to the existing ultrahigh-field NMR instrumentation (900 MHz and two 800 MHz systems) was made. In addition, an advanced sample changer with cooling capacity was installed on one of the 800 MHz spectrometers to meet the requirements of metabolomics studies. Today, the Swedish NMR center houses seven NMR spectrometers from 500 MHz to 900 MHz, ranking the Centre within the top-most NMR facilities in Europe Organizational model and decision making The Swedish NMR Centre is a unit at the Faculty of Science and is managed by a director. In addition, the Swedish NMR Centre has several advisory groups; the local advisory group, the national/international advisory group and the scientific evaluation panel. The main task of the latter two groups, with representatives of renowned national and international scientists, is to warrant development of the NMR Centre to keep it in the forefront of national and international NMR service providers. The role of the local advisory group, with representatives from the Faculty of Science, the Sahlgrenska academy (Faculty of Health) and Chalmers University of Technology, is vaguer. It serves more like a discussion forum between the director and NMR representatives of local faculties. The director calls up a meeting once or twice per year mostly going through the economy of the Centre and to discuss development of the infrastructure. Although the discussions have been very informal thus far, I recommend making memos of these discussions to create transparency on decision making. These meetings between the director and the local advisory group could also be the bottom up channel to discuss user needs; how the services, instrumentation or schooling could be improved. This should translate to a more active use of the services provided by the Swedish NMR Centre among the local users. The evaluator noticed that the roles of the various advisory groups seem to be unclear and partially redundant both in decision making and development of the NMR

4 Centre. I suggest that the University/Faculty would invite these groups more formally and define their roles more clearly Fulfilling the goals The Swedish NMR Centre was established to provide national research infrastructure for NMR spectroscopy applications in terms of NMR instrument service, development of NMR methodology as well as scientific expertise for the user community in data collection and data analysis Instrumentation It is clear that the instrumentation in the Swedish NMR Centre is of the highest quality. In addition to the 900 MHz and two 800 MHz NMR spectrometers, the Centre houses three 600 MHz and one 500 MHz system. Recent investments in new electronics, probeheads and automatic sample changers to the ultra-high field NMR instruments keep the instrumentation of the NMR Centre in solution state NMR applications at a level comparable to the very best NMR facilities in Europe. Availability of advanced, cooled sample changer enhances the capacity of the NMR Centre towards metabolomics or fragment-based screening applications, which potentially enlarges the existing user base, reaching the University hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and beyond. One of the 600 MHz NMR systems is equipped with a solid state NMR accessory, which has mainly been used by the researchers at Chalmers University of Technology. The Centre is also investigating the possibility to install a NMR micro-imaging accessory to one of the 600 MHz spectrometers that should attract researchers both from existing and potential industrial partners but also academic users from life sciences to materials science and chemical engineering. Moreover, Sahlgrenska Academy has recruited a new principal investigator potentially interested in utilizing micro-imaging equipment in imagebased therapy. The Centre has been preparing towards the threat of global helium shortage - current prognosis suggests that the future helium supply is ca. 80% of the demand. Consequently, during the past 10 years, the price of liquid helium has doubled. The planned investments to helium recovery and liquefaction system is then very much timely and should warrant the availability of vital cryogens in the future as well, and will pay off within 5 years Development of NMR methodology In past several years, development of NMR methodology at the Swedish NMR Centre has been very efficient, focusing mainly on advancing NMR data acquisition as well as production of (labelled) protein samples using in vitro protein synthesis. Novel data acquisition protocols utilizing non-linear sampling together with the so-called targeted acquisition method enable data collection for protein structure determination with a blistering speed in comparison to conventional data collection schemes. In a favorable case, that is, in data sampling limited regime, this results in reduction of spectrometer time from weeks to a few days. The NMR Centre has also put an effort on sample production. The conventional way of protein production is to utilize cell-based, in vivo protein production, which has several well-known limitations. The in vitro (cell-free) protein synthesis used in the Swedish NMR Centre allows site-specific incorporation of specifically labeled amino acids

5 into the protein sequence. This offers several advantages for studying more challenging protein targets. The methodology development in the NMR Centre aims to generate an efficient protein structure determination platform for wider scientific community. This goal is highly appreciable yet very ambitious given that NMR based structural biology is still far from being a high-throughput technology in comparison to X-ray crystallography Access & user policy The NMR Centre provides services through various infrastructure projects and at various levels. Trans-national access in structural biology can be obtained via EU FP7 funded project Bio-NMR, whereas national research projects in structural biology are supported by the VR RFI funding (SWEDSTRUCT project) and KAW foundation (NMR for Life project). For metabolomics studies, access to the infrastructure is supported by the NMR for Life project. Access to the NMR Centre instrumentation is free of charge for external academic users. Local user access to the NMR Centre is supported by the University of Gothenburg. However, in the case of materials science projects, a fee-based access has been employed. It remains unclear to this reviewer, whether local PIs will actually pay this fee or if it is deducted from overall costs by the University of Gothenburg. Services in structural biology include i) access to NMR instruments, ii) data acquisition and analysis supported by the NMR Centre personnel, as well as iii) collaborative projects. For experienced users, a remote access to NMR spectrometers is available. In addition, NMR optimized in vitro protein production by the NMR Centre staff is available. The reviewer sees this as an asset to the NMR Centre i.e. for inexperienced users to lower the threshold to utilize NMR spectroscopy in their projects while experienced users having access to state-of-the-art instrumentation. Similar service is provided for metabolomics projects although this is still in a preparative phase. The users can get access to the Swedish NMR Centre services through various funding platforms (see above). To this end, the project application needs to be sent (via ) to the NMR Centre for checking the feasibility of the project. If the project is found to be adequate for the Swedish NMR Centre instrumentation and services provided, the application is sent to the scientific evaluation panel to review the scientific value of the project. After approval, users can apply for access, e.g. reserve time for the particular NMR spectrometer, at the NMR Centre directly. Until now, there has been no need for limiting user access. While the availability of NMR spectrometer time was generally found to be very satisfactory among the users, communication between the Swedish NMR Centre and users could be improved. It was found that users have several times booked an instrument, which was not actually available upon arrival e.g. due to technical problems, helium filling or the instrument being used by someone else. Considering the aging instrumentation, technical problems may occur and also (global/local) helium shortages may disturb scheduling. The evaluator reckons that these problems have largely been resolved by recent upgrade of spectrometer electronics. Nevertheless, often booking of NMR instrument has been done via which is not adequate for this purpose especially in the case of a larger user base. This reviewer sees that an electronic booking system would solve many of these issues e.g. double bookings. The evaluator noticed that the NMR Centre already has an existing electronic booking system/calendar. However, most of the users did not know that such a system is available at the NMR Centre. Moreover, the evaluator observed that there is a mailing list for the users, where for instance problems related to instrument maintenance are

6 informed. For some reason, most of the users were not on that list. Thus, tools for active user communication and dissemination of vital information are available but not yet fully utilized. These tools are of utmost importance for the users outside the Gothenburg area but would also help the NMR Centre staff in organizing user service User service The actual service provided to users in structural biology applications was generally regarded as good. Many of these users felt that the expertise of the NMR Centre personnel is at very high level and they were able to get all the help and assistance they needed for accomplishing their project. However, the evaluator made a note that the NMR Centre staff could be more involved with the user community and emphasis should be placed on serving actual user needs. Some customers complained the lack of feedback and poor communication between them and the NMR Centre staff they felt being completely unaware of their project status. The NMR Centre arranges courses and workshops in NMR based structural biology; cell free expression and data acquisition & analysis based on fast NMR methods developed at the NMR Centre. These courses have been very popular and they are very much appreciated among the users. The evaluator considers this approach very positive as it should eventually encourage users to utilize the NMR technology platform more independently, which in turn, unchains the NMR Centre staff for attracting more external users. Users wish to retrieve more information on curriculum and dates of provided courses and workshops on the NMR Centre website. While structural biologists generally considered the Swedish NMR Centre a valuable resource for their research, the users that fall outside this scope were clearly more reserved. The reviewer observed that these users felt disappointed either regarding the quality of service or the user policy executed at the NMR Centre. Some users felt that the NMR Centre had promised too much, that is, being able to successfully carry out the project. At a later stage it was realized that the NMR Centre staff does neither have adequate expertise nor established protocols to finalize the project. Some customers raised criticism against the NMR Centre user policy; the Centre is too focused on structural biology. Users especially in the fields of small molecule NMR, physical chemistry and materials sciences were disappointed in the user service they felt that the NMR Centre lacks expertise in the fields of small molecule NMR or solid state NMR. Less experienced users particularly felt that there is too large a gap between them and the NMR Centre personnel, and it is difficult to get professional assistance for their work at the Centre. They often find that the calibration or setup of NMR instruments is done in a non-standard fashion but there is too little help available from the NMR Centre personnel to assist them. As a consequence, the threshold has become too high especially for local graduate students to utilize the NMR Centre in their research. The situation described above, echoes the diffuse perspective of the mission and the role of the Swedish NMR Centre. On one hand, the research staff felt that the NMR Centre and the services provided are dedicated to structural biology or life sciences in general. On the other hand, strategic decisions and investments made in the past ( ) together with the Chalmers University of Technology aim to reach a larger scientific community. In 2013, through KAW supported NMR for Life project, the number of research staff was doubled but these staff members were devoted to support NMR services in life sciences. The reviewer noticed that there is a large potential user base outside the scope of life sciences willing to utilize the unique instrumentation available at the NMR Centre. However, at the moment, the NMR Centre is not fully capable of serving

7 the needs of these users. Indeed, a dedicated research staff member or a technician could be assigned to maintain the instruments and assist users operating the spectrometers. To this reviewer, this seems more like a strategic decision to be made regarding the focus areas of the NMR Centre in the future rather than the outcome of limited resources in instrumentation or service personnel. 3. Suggestions and recommendations on the Future of Swedish NMR Centre The NMR Centre has continued to fulfill its unique role/task in Sweden. It has been serving structural biologists for the past fifteen years. During the last five years, the Swedish NMR Centre has shown positive expansion of its activities and an international outreach, indicating that the leadership and the advisory boards have a good vision of the future development of the Swedish NMR Centre. This progress is governed by the following openings - In 2009, investment in a solid state equipment operating at 600 MHz to serve the needs of material scientists. - Integration with the pan-european biological NMR infrastructure consortium, the Bio-NMR project, funded by the EU seventh framework program ( ) that provides transnational access and technological advancements in bio-nmr. - Membership of the national research infrastructure network in structural biology, SWEDSTRUCT, in Consequently, the Swedish NMR Centre is affiliated with the INSTRUCT, the pan-european hub that integrates technology platforms, scientific expertise and education in structural biology. - Launching of the NMR for Life project together with the University of Umeå. In this consortium, which enhances the activities in life sciences towards metabolomics and chemical biology, a division of labor between the partners has been clearly identified (solution state NMR in Gothenburg and solid state NMR in Umeå). These actions foster collaboration and improve the visibility of the Swedish NMR Centre, while avoiding unnecessary duplication of activities. Considering the Swedish NMR Centre as a national and an international service provider, the evaluator noted with satisfaction that - State-of-the-art instrumentation available at the Centre is capable of serving user needs in life sciences (structural biology, metabolomics, chemical biology) but also those in material sciences. - The research staff is very competent with complementary skills in life sciences. The Centre participates in the development and application of advanced NMR methodology. - The Swedish NMR Centre actively organizes courses and workshops in structural biology and more recently also in metabolomics in conjunction with the methodology and protocols utilized in the Centre. This warrants dissemination of good practices and procedures, fostering utilization of instrumentation in a more independent fashion. - Service is provided in various forms, from plain data collection to full service (protein production - data collection - data analysis). This lowers the threshold of using NMR as a research tool.

8 - Access control to the service follows the established guidelines with feasibility checking and evaluation of the projects scientific value. The evaluator recommends the following in order to amplify the usage of the NMR Centre services, to expand the clientele of the Centre and to render services more user-friendly - Communication between the user, the management and the staff of NMR Centre should be improved, e.g., by generating a short list of user s needs. - Meetings between the director and the local (national) advisory group should be a bottom up channel for developing services from the user perspective. At the same time, transparency of underlying decisions should be fostered. - Expertise of the NMR Centre staff should be extended, or partially redirected, to cover the needs of local users beyond life sciences. Alternatively, the name of the Centre could more precisely describe its current (de facto) mission and services, e.g. the Swedish NMR Center for life sciences. - Courses and workshops could be organized also outside the scope of NMR life sciences. - Electronic booking system is recommended to avoid issues related to managing of services. This should be accessible for confirmed users on the Swedish NMR Centre website. Dissemination of vital information through a mailing list. At the moment, not all users are included in this list. - Use of log books on spectrometers to build up (independent) user confidence and help in troubleshooting. - Visibility of the NMR Centre could be improved by a targeted campaign or roadshow that would introduce the provided services and highlight well-selected examples of success stories. Finally, it became evident to the evaluator that the NMR Centre considers its role as a service provider of life sciences applications while the (potential) user community sees the Centre as a wide spectrum research infrastructure. Therefore, a thorough discussion of the role of the Swedish NMR Centre should be initiated to define its mission more clearly, and to define whether the Centre works as a national NMR service provider or research oriented infrastructure. High quality research does not necessarily equal to high quality user service. Division of labor may be needed among the research staff (user service in life sciences - small molecule NMR axis vs. NMR technology development). The Faculty may also consider - Nominating advisory board members by the Faculty, to firmly integrate members in the decision making. - Strategic recruitment of PIs, able to utilize the NMR Centre extensively, to better meet the potential of the available instrumentation. - Dedicated technician for assisting users outside the scope of biomolecular NMR, to fully utilize large potential user base in Gothenburg area. - Partial recovery of costs through user fees.

9 Appendix A short biography of the reviewer Perttu Permi, PhD, Adjunct professor, has been Head of the Finnish Biological NMR Center at the Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki since The Finnish Biological NMR Center is associated with the Biocenter Finland organization ( serving over 2000 scientists and Ph.D. students working in the field of molecular biology and biomedicine. In , Dr. Permi was appointed the Academy of Finland Research Fellow. In 2010, Perttu Permi was elected as a Member of International Evaluation Panel for the EU Frame Program 7 funded Bio-NMR project. He is also member of several international and national panels and boards. Perttu Permi seeks to understand protein function, especially in pathogen host interactions and neurodegenerative disorders, through characterization of structure, dynamics and interactions. He also participates actively on development NMR methodology. He has coordinated and participated in numerous international and national research projects, and published over 90 peer-reviewed scientific papers.