The versatility of NMR to characterize equally well all kinds of materials, biomolecules, processes and living organisms makes NMR spectroscopy an indispensable tool in the search for solutions for major problems that our society faces.
In 2011, researchers from various disciplines of the universities of Utrecht, Eindhoven, Leiden, Nijmegen and Wageningen in the Netherlands teamed up with the public-private partnership for analytical chemistry, COAST, to form a consortium dedicated to providing open access to NMR instrumentation.
As a result of their combined efforts, the national ultra high-field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance facility (uNMR-NL) opened on November 5, 2015.
The goal of uNMR-NL is to provide open access to a new generation of NMR instruments operating at ultra-high field strength across scientific disciplines and industrial research. Researchers from other Dutch universities, research institutes and companies can submit research proposals. The first major instrument funded was a 950 MHz standard bore NMR instrument with probes for solution, solid-state and micro-imaging. The instrument was installed at Utrecht University and celebrated with a reception on November 5th, 2015.
Prof. Marc Baldus and State Secretary of Education, Culture & Science Sander Dekker Photo courtesy of Kees Rutten
State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science Sander Dekker attended the opening of the uNMR-NL facility, which was held at Utrecht Science Park. Dekker expressed great satisfaction at the level of cooperation between all the organizations to make the facility a reality.
“I am convinced that the most interesting discoveries are the result of cooperation between non-obvious partners,” commented Dekker.
Prof. Marc Baldus (left), Prof. Alexandre Bonvin (center) and State Secretary of Education, Culture & Science Sander Dekker (far right) touring the lab. Photo courtesy of Kees Rutten
Marjan Oudeman, President of the Executive Board of Utrecht University, stressed the importance of investment in state-of-the-art research facilities for Netherlands to strengthen international competitiveness and prosperity. “uNMR-NL stands for investing in our future.”
Current Research
Marc Baldus, Professor of NMR spectroscopy at Utrecht University and coordinator of uNMR-NL, explains the work being done and why the instrumentation is so vital. “Molecules are the basis of life and of the materials we people make. To understand the role of a specific protein plays in the development of cancer or why a new nanomaterial has certain properties, you should know the structure of the molecules. With this instrument we can gain structural information of molecules that were so far impossible to study. For example of proteins such as they occur in cells.” he said.
Future Goals
With the 950 MHz NMR instrument, the uNMR-NL facility already has one of the most powerful NMR spectrometers in the world. The facility will continue to expand with the addition of a 1.2 GHz standard bore NMR from Bruker.
Photo courtesy of Kees Rutten
In addition, the uNMR-NL consortium has founded the Netherlands’ Magnetic Resonance Research School (NMARRS), a joint educational and research initiative headed by Radboud University to train a new generation of PhD students to become magnetic resonance experts that can drive the development of the field forward in the future.