Single access point to the Dutch EM infrastructure
NEMI is the central entry point for EM in the Netherlands. The infrastructure is accessible to academic researchers from The Netherlands or abroad that are able to successfully submit an Access Request that meets criteria of scientific quality, see ‘Access Procedures’ below.
The coordination of the NEMI infrastructure and access to the nodes and their technologies is performed by the NEMI Executive Board. All information relevant for users, e.g. presentation of each Node, level of entry (Regional or Flagship Node), information about available technologies, access to data repositories, data management software, and guidelines for user support is provided at the central location. The NEMI support team also provides a central consultation point, which will help future users to identify the most suitable technology and Node for their particular research purpose.
All Nodes associated with NEMI have committed to provide:
- Physical access to imaging instruments;
- Technical support and expertise;
- Hands-on training of users during their visit at the Node;
- Regular user training courses;
- Image acquisition and processing technologies;
- Support with storage and processing;
- Support for project planning, additionally instrumentation & facilities;
- SOP, best-practice data management plans, and connection to data infrastructure.
Flagship Node | Distinguishing technologies | Associated PI’s |
|---|---|---|
Delft (TUD)
| Development of instrumentation, in-situ hard-matter EM, holography | Pieter Kruit, Jacob Hoogenboom, Sonia Conesa-Boi, Henny Zandbergen |
Eindhoven (TU/e) | In-situ soft-matter EM, soft-matter cryo-EM, ultrafast EM | Heiner Friedrich, Jom Luiten, Erwin Kessels, Jan van Hest |
Groningen (UMCG/RUG) | Large-scale EM, single-particle cryo-EM | Ben Giepmans (UMCG), Bart Kooi, Cristina Paulino (RUG)
|
Leiden | High-resolution EM for life Sciences, cryo-correlative light EM (cryo-CLEM) | Bram Koster, Roman Koning (LUMC) Ariane Briegel, (LU), Meindert Lamers (NeCEN) |
Utrecht (UMCU, UU)
| Immuno-EM, live cell-CLEM, analytical EM, image processing | Judith Klumperman (UMCU), Friedrich Förster, Marijn van Huis, Krijn de Jong, Alfons van Blaaderen, Martyn Drury (UU) |
Maastricht (M4I)
| Multimodal cryo-EM-mass spectrometry (MS), ion microscopy | Ron Heeren, Peter Peters, Raimond Ravelli, Carmen Lopez-Iglesias |
Access procedures
The NEMI infrastructure will be made available to national and international users through the NEMI user program. Access will be arranged in line with the European Charter for Access to Research Infrastructures, ensuring that access is on the basis of scientific excellence, pay-for-use, and open for all Dutch researchers.
A request for usage starts with the submittal of a user proposal, containing a request for access to a specific element of the NEMI infrastructure together with the scientific rationale, budgeted user time and required support and training. Requests to Regional Nodes can be submitted via the NEMI website or directly to the management of the requested node to ensure rapid throughput of frequent users. Applications for access to NEMI Flagship nodes will be assessed by a NEMI Access Requests Board composed of the principal PIs of the distinct Nodes supplemented with international scientists from the scientific advisory board. All applications will be assessed on the basis of scientific excellence and the suitability of the selected EM technique to answer the scientific questions posed. Decisions will be taken by this Board within 3 weeks after submission of request and microscopy beam time will be scheduled within 6 weeks after acceptance. Finally, in-house training will be provided for frequent users of the facility. Access of the NEMI facilities will be transparently reported to all users.
Access form
Please fill in this form to initiate the access procedure.
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