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Resources for COVID-19 research

24-Mar-2020

 

Please visit our COVID-19 Resource Centre at instruct-eric.eu/covid19 for the latest information:

 

 

Scientific communities across the world are sharing knowledge and resources to support research relating to COVID-19. By joining forces, scientists are working to improve our understanding of the disease and accelerate the development of therapeutics and vaccines.

The following list details resources and initiatives to support the structural biology community in COVID-19 research, including funded, rapid-access to research infrastructure, open-access databases and literature, and volunteering opportunities.

 

Technology, services and infrastructure

Priority access to Instruct-ERIC’s structural biology services

Where possible, Instruct will continue to offer restricted access to structural biology services for research directly related to COVID-19 through a priority access pathway. The services available through Instruct are listed below. Where remote access is offered, a Centre can accept samples sent by post, which will be processed by local scientists without the user needing to visit the laboratory.

To find out more about priority access and to submit a research proposal, click here.

Instruct Centre CZ: BIOCEV and CEITEC

The Czech Infrastructure for Integrative Structural Biology is fully operational for COVID-19-related projects via remote access.

Instruct Centre ES: Instruct Image Processing Centre

The Instruct Image Processing Centre is offering computational support for COVID-19 research, including cryo-EM image processing to enhance resolution and interpretability.

Instruct Centre FI: University of Oulu, University of Helsinki, University of Eastern Finland

Researchers are invited to contact the scientists at Instruct Centre FI with specific requests for access to services for COVID-19 research, before submitting a proposal.

Instruct Centre FR1: IGBMC

Cryo-EM services at the IGBMC are available to determine structures relating to COVID-19 on-the-fly. Samples must be non-infectious (e.g. enzyme targets, capsid, VLP etc.).

Instruct Centre IT: CERM/CIRMMP

CERM/CIRMMP are accepting proposals for solution and solid-state NMR experiments relating to COVID-19, via remote access.

Instruct Centre NL: Bijvoet Centre at Utrecht University

Researchers are invited to contact the scientists at the Bijvoet Centre with specific requests for access to services for COVID-19 research, before submitting a proposal.

Instruct UK: Astbury Biostructure Laboratory

Cryo-EM and NMR services are available at the Astbury Biostructure Laboratory for COVID-19-related research.

Instruct UK: Diamond Light Source

The Diamond Light Source is offering priority rapid-access to groups from any country who require instrument time for projects directly related to SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins.

Instruct-UK: Oxford Mass Spectrometry Centre

Researchers are invited to contact the scientists at the Oxford Mass Spectrometry Centre with specific requests for access to services for COVID-19 research, before submitting a proposal.

 
Crowdfight COVID-19

An initiative from the scientific community to put all available resources at the service of the fight against COVID-19. Researchers working on COVID-19 can request help with tasks, and other scientists can help fulfil those requests by donating time and skill for free. Find out more here.

Rapid Access Call for Octopus Facility Proposals: SARS-CoV-2

The UK's Central Laser Facility (CLF) is inviting rapid access proposals to its Octopus imaging facility for research relevant to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19. For more information and to submit a proposal, click here.

PRACE computing support

PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe) is welcoming project proposals for computing resources to contribute to the mitigation of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with fast-track review. Find out more and view a list of suggested proposal topics here.

Life Science Research Infrastructures for COVID-19 research

To support the global effort to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, Life Sciences Research Infrastructures (LS RIs) are prioritising COVID-19 research. LS RIs are ready and able to provide expert advice and resources to meet a variety of research needs. Find out more here.

SLS and the SwissFEL priority access call for work on COVID-19

The Swiss Light Source and the SwissFEL have opened a "PRIORITY COVID-19 Call” for short proposals and quick peer review to enable rapid access to beamtime. Find out about priority access here.

 

Research collaborations and funding

Fast-track co-creation funding for COVID-19 related activities

The European Open Science Cloud (EOSC)secretariat.eu has responded to this urgent international challenge by introducing a fast-track procedure to apply for co-creation funding, specifically dedicated to activities related to COVID-19. Find out what activities are eligible for funding here.

Call for COVID-19 rapid response data science taskforce

The Turing is setting up a fast moving programme to inform medical professionals in the fight against COVID-19. The call is for existing teams of researchers with strong experience in working with health and clinical data applications, who can allocate substantial time within the next week for a three month intensive practical programme. For more information, click here.

PostEra: contribute expertise to design inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease

An XChem screening experiment at the Diamond Light Source, combined with a mass spectrometry screen of covalent fragments at the Weizmann Institute (Israel), has yielded over 60 fragment hits directly with structures of fragment-protein complexes. PostEra are now asking for help in designing new inhibitors based on these initial fragment hits. To find out more and get involved, click here.

Critical Assessment of Structure Prediction (CASP) SARS-2-CoV structure modelling initiative

CASP has launched the SARS-2-CoV structure modelling initiative to generate and evaluate models for the virus' most challenging proteins and domains - those where there is no experimental structure available and where comparative modelling techniques cannot be used. The goal is to obtain the best possible consensus structures, and to use the family of models to obtain overall and residue level accuracy estimates. Find out more here.

EC emergency funding action for coronavirus SARS-CoV-2

The European Commission is providing emergency research funds for projects relating to COVID-19. Eighteen Horizon 2020 research projects have been shortlisted - you can view the list of projects here.

 

Literature and data

Coronavirus Structural Taskforce

A global public resource for the structures from beta-coronavirus with a focus on SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. View the repository here.

EMBL-EBI Datahub

A list of data resources linked to the outbreak of coronavirus, from COVID-19 genome sequencing data, to X-ray and cryo-EM structures of relevant proteins. To view the data, click here.

Protein Databank (PDB) Covid-19 Coronavirus resources

COVID-19-related protein structures (PDB data and related resources) for structure-based drug discovery and understanding of COVID-19 are available here.

Proteopedia: COVID-19

Proteopedia, the collaborative and free 3D-encyclopedia of proteins and biomolecules, has published a web page detailing the structural biology and other aspects of COVID-19. View the page by clicking here.

Publishers making COVID-19 content freely available and reusable

More than 30 leading publishers have committed to making all of their COVID-19 and coronavirus-related publications, and the available data supporting them, immediately accessible in PubMed Central and other public repositories. To view the list of publishers, click here.

Information about the Coronavirus response from the European Commission

The European Commission is coordinating a common European response to the outbreak of COVID-19. For information and resources relating to COVID-19, click here