SciLifeLab Cryo-EM receive funding for new Nordic cryo-EM network
SciLifeLab Cryo-EM, with nodes at Umeå University and in Stockholm, has been awarded SEK 7.5 million per node from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW) for its participation in the Nordic Cryo conneXion (NCX), a new Nordic network for cryo-electron microscopy. The funding will strengthen training, knowledge exchange and access to expertise across the Nordic facilities.
NCX is the next phase of cryoNET, which since 2018 has connected cryo-EM facilities in Umeå, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Aarhus. The collaboration has included courses and workshops, staff exchanges, the CryoNet conference, method development, and shared access to instruments.
The new funds will run from 2027 to 2030 and expand the collaboration to include the Helsinki Cryo-EM facility as a core member, with Norway as an associate member. The aim is to make expertise and advanced methods more accessible across the Nordic region, rather than developing the same capabilities separately at each facility.
Sara Sandin coordinated Umeå’s work on the application together with Linda Sandblad and colleagues in the Nordic network.
”An important part is creating more opportunities for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers to learn new techniques and benefit from expertise across the network,” says Sara Sandin.
Umeå brings particular expertise in cryo-electron tomography and cryoFIB methods to the collaboration, while the Stockholm node contributes expertise in single-particle cryo-EM and high-resolution structural analysis. Together, the two nodes strengthen SciLifeLab Cryo-EM’s contribution to the Nordic network.
SciLifeLab Cryo-EM’s nodes in Umeå and Stockholm have each been awarded SEK 7.5 million from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation over four years, amounting to SEK 15 million in total.
