Structural biology facility gains European recognition

A pan-European structural biology infrastructure network has been granted the legal status of European Research Infrastructure Consortium.

The network, called Instruct, provides access to facilities for bioinformatics, computational biology, mass spectrometry and other resources across Europe. It was granted ERIC status by the European Commission on 4 July, which confers exemptions from VAT and excise duty as well as other legal benefits on the facilities.

Some of the facilities are based in the UK. At an event inaugurating Instruct’s ERIC status on 18 July, the UK’s science minister Jo Johnson said that the European recognition of the network would create new opportunities for Europe’s best researchers to work together.