NSRRC Activity Report 2023

Facts and Figures 135 Protein Crystallography Training Courses I and II X-ray Summer School The Protein Crystallography Training Courses were held from July 17 to 21 and from July 24 to 28. Each course consisted of 18 first-year masters or PhD students, newly hired postdoctoral fellows, or research assistants. The courses provided lecture programs and hands-on training, which covered a broad spectrum of topics on synchrotron- based protein crystallography, including crystallization of proteins, data collection strategies, phasing techniques, The NSRRC X-ray Summer School provides a platform for junior scientists, engineers of industrial applications, and senior undergraduate and graduate students to exchange scientific ideas, share knowledge, and collaborate. The 12 th X-ray Summer School session was organized by the NSRRC from July 18 to 21. A total of 90 participants gathered at Sun Moon Lake, a famous lakeshore getaway in Taiwan, for the session. The program included an introduction to basic concepts, technologies, applications of X-ray techniques (absorption, diffraction, scattering, and tomography), Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry and imaging, and theoretical calculations (molecular mechanics and molecular dynamics). Scientists and medical doctors were invited to give lectures on cutting-edge technologies and applications of X-ray and infrared science, including biomaterials, drug design, pharmaceutical testing, spectroscopy, and spectral imaging in diagnosis medicine; clinical surveillance; and artificial intelligence and machine learning in image reconstruction. This year’s X-ray Summer School focused on the scientific research of quantum materials (including two-dimensional semiconductors). Using three perspectives, atomic structures, spectroscopy, and imaging, the experimental facilities at the TPS could be used to solve the problems that researchers had encountered related to characteristic analysis in low- dimensional materials. In the summer school, 27 lecturers introduced basic concepts, cutting-edge technologies, and applications of various X-ray techniques, including temporally coherent X-ray diffraction ( TPS 09A ), high-resolution powder X-ray diffraction ( TPS 19A ), X-ray nanodiffraction ( TPS 21A ), X-ray nanoprobe ( TPS 23A ), and coherence X-ray scattering ( TPS 25A ), nano-ARPES ( TPS 39A ), ambient pressure X-ray photoemission spectroscopy ( TPS 43A ), submicron soft X-ray spectroscopy ( TPS 45A ), high-resolution X-ray absorption spectroscopy ( TPS 47A ), and laser ARPES. Protein Crystallography Training Courses offered hand-on sessions to practice growing crystals, collecting data, and analyzing diffraction data. radiation damage on protein crystals, and structural determination of proteins. The goal of these training courses was to disseminate experimental techniques of macromolecular crystallography to researchers and students with an interest in using this specific method to further the scope of their research. The knowledge and skills acquired by students during the courses are essential for research and experiments in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.