Study Tour 2011 Russia and Finland April 4th – April 18th 2 Table of Contents Table of Contents Preface .......................................................................................................................................... 4 Scientific staff ................................................................................................................................ 5 Case studies ................................................................................................................................. 7 Preliminary studies and retrospective views ............................................................................... 13 Program ...................................................................................................................................... 79 Daily reports ................................................................................................................................ 80 Committee reports .................................................................................................................... 100 Financial report ......................................................................................................................... 104 People ....................................................................................................................................... 105 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... 107 Colophon ................................................................................................................................... 109 3 Preface Preface Dear reader, After a long process of finding a destination, searching for funding and organizing the study tour, you get to read a summary of the whole experience study tour 2011 to St. Petersburg and Helsinki. The study tour was a real experience of its own. Especially Russia was so different from what we know here in Western Europe. I am still amazed about finding chemicals stored in plastic bottles next to new technology equipment. After Russia Finland was a real contrast. A bit more like at home but still different .We learned for example that the passion of Finnish people for sauna was not just a legend. It was picked up enthusiastically by the study tour participants who really enjoyed this part of the Finnish culture. I would like to thank all the people that gave us such a warm welcome in Finland and Russia. Thanks for answering all of our many, many questions so patiently. I think that I can say that we all learned a lot on this trip and from the people that we met. This amazing trip would not have been possible without the people who supported us. I would like to thank our sponsors and the departments who gave us case studies for the financial support that made this study tour possible. I would also like to thank our two supervisors Lutgarde Buydens en Wilbert Boelens for going on this trip with us. Last but not least, I would like to thank all the participants and my fellow committee members for a great study tour. Barbara Ridder Chairwoman 4 Scientific staff Scientific staff Already at the departure on Monday 4 April early in the morning the code of conduct, that would remain preserved during the entire trip, was set: an organization team that arranged and was in control of every little detail and that demanded the same discipline of all participants. This approach was the key to a very successful, fascinating and enjoyable study trip. Saint Petersburg was a cultural surprise. Its history, totally different from ours, has resulted in a quite interesting city. Her Oriental culture origin, the hallucinatory richness of the Czars dynasty, the subsequent Soviet era and later Western influences have all left their marks and created of Saint Petersburg a city where we fell from one surprise into another. Highlights were definitely the visit to the immense Hermitage museum where some of us got an instructive tour behind the scenes, in the laboratories where works of art are restored and analyzed. Also the museum of Mendeleev, in the Technical University, the place where he lived and worked for many years was a unique experience. A visit to the Aurora, the submarine, from where the 1917 revolution was launched with a cannon shot, was for many a not to miss event on the agenda. The city also protrudes of an incredible number of impressive Orthodox churches, each in itself worth a visit. The Church of the Savior on the Blood, by the students very aptly called the “sweets Church” defies all imagination. The Interior consisting of hundreds of square meters of beautiful mosaic work beats the lot of unexpected greatness. Also a walk on the frozen sea was a unique experience. The visits to the universities, however, left us with mixed feelings. On the one hand, we were impressed by the performances of the past, with big names like Sakharov and Mendeleev. The Chemistry show, brought to us by a scientific son of Sakharov confronted us, however, with the present-day reality of those universities. A distressing lack of money and of people makes it very difficult to do advanced research. Yet the visit to the biophysical Department was a pleasant surprise where biological oriented research started to flourish. A Russian variant of the TGV brought us to Finland. The difference with the advanced high- tech biological research at the University of Helsinki could hardly be greater. A visit to the "Finnish institute for verification of chemical weapons convention", Verifin, reminded us of the fragility of today’s peace. ECHA (European chemicals Agency), on the other hand, showed us that, thanks to new ambitious European regulations for registration of chemicals (REACH), we are able to make of the world a place where it is a bit better livable. The trip to the maritime fortress, Suomenlinna, also known as the "Gibraltar of the North ' was a worthy end of our trip. Suomenlinna is the icon of the turbulent power swings in this part of the world and is therefore a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is obvious that the study tour 2011 was an unforgettable, breathtaking, interesting trip. The pleasant and friendly atmosphere in a group, where everyone conscientiously takes up his or her responsibility together with the outstanding travel organization has certainly been an important part of the success. Wilbert Boelens en Lutgarde Buydens 5 Scientific staff Prof. dr. Lutgarde Buydens Background: Lutgarde Maria Celina Buydens has studied pharmacy and informatics at the Brussels Free University (Belgium). She obtained her PhD in 1986 at the same University on the subject "Structure activity relationships: contributions of gas chromatography and study of neuroleptics". In 1992 she was presented the 'Elsevier Chemometrics Award' for noteworthy accomplishments in the field of chemometrics by younger scientists. Currently, she is the head of the Analytical Chemistry department of the Radboud University. Dr. Wilbert Boelens Background: Wilbert Boelens has studied chemistry in Nijmegen. He graduated in 1988, after which he did a PhD at the Department of Biochemistry of Professor Van Venrooij with the subject: Interactions between U-snRNP proteins and their associated RNAs. In 1992 he went to the EMBL in Heidelberg and has worked in the lab of Ian Mattaj. Since 1994 he has worked at the Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, where he studies the function of the small stress proteins and the cross-linking enzyme transglutaminase. 6 Case studies Case studies A large part of the income of the study tour was the concept of case studies. These studies were carried out by participants and can best be defined as doing some work for a research department, independent institution or company. This work would consist of about 50 hours of work, equal to the amount of time participants need to spend in order to receive European Credits (EC, ‘study points’) for the study tour. Next to that, the study tour committee receives a fee from said departments for the work that was done by the participants. This makes the case study a valuable asset for both the committee and the participants. Here, the abstracts of the case studies that were carried out by some of the participants are listed. This will give you an impression of the great diversity between these case studies and the work that went into them. Alinda Alfring and Rianne Hommersom SynAffix The aim of our case study was to design a booklet for the spin-off company SynAffix. This is a spin-off of the Radboud University in Nijmegen that was started in early 2010. SynAffix’ expertise lies in the synthesis of molecules that affix. The company’s main focus is the development and application of molecules for catalyst- and reagent-free cycloaddition. SynAffix’ molecules undergo highly efficient ligation, applicable in life science, medical imaging, material sciences and other areas of interest that require a clean and efficient conjugation reaction. (http://www.synaffix.com) The overall assignment included: - Obtaining pictures for use in the booklet as well as on the website, by shooting photos of the staff and equipment in the laboratory, and subsequent imaging with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom®. - The graphic design of the brochure itself, using programs like Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop. - Designing the company’s own writing paper. Since we both had no prior experience working with either one of these programs, there was a lot for us to learn. Luckily, a ‘pro’