Excellent turn out, informative programme and novel venue ensured success of protein characterisation seminar hosted by Malvern and MicroCal at Diamond Light Source, on the Harwell Chilton campus
A free, one-day event designed to promote a high level of scientific interface, the seminar explored the powerful and highly complementary techniques of light scattering, circular dichroism and ultrasensitive calorimetry applied to protein characterisation.
The seminar was fully booked with attendees split approximately 50/50 between academia and commercial companies, with many having travelled quite some distance to take part.
Rohanah Hussain, event organiser and beamline scientist from Diamond Light Source, was pleased that the meeting went smoothly as commented by many delegates.
According to Tim Flanagan, vice president of MicroCal Europe, "We had good feedback; people not only found the day informative and helpful, but also very enjoyable".
Glyn Williams, director of Biophysics at Astex Therapeutics in Cambridge, attended the seminar and was impressed with the practical nature of the information.
"The advice was aimed at people who are working with real instruments," he said.
"As a biophysicist, I feel that the power of biophysics lies in combining different techniques, and this was one of the few forums at which it has been possible to hear about more than one technology in depth, with presentations covering light scattering, calorimetry and SRCD.
"The presentations were open and honest, talking about both the strengths and the limitations of the methods, and the seminar provided the opportunity for high quality discussions with other delegates who had a variety of different interests and experiences".
Positive feedback was also reported by Ulf Nobbmann, from Malvern Instruments, who gave presentations on the use of light scattering techniques for protein characterisation.
He paid tribute to the excellence of the venue.
Ronan O'Brien from MicroCal, also a speaker, commented on how encouraging it was to see instrument manufacturers and bench scientists working together in such a productive manner.
Further joint seminars are planned and details will be announced later.
