BioCAT is offering its tenth intensive HOW-TO course in BioSAXS. Students will have four days of virtual lectures and hands-on software tutorials on the basics of BioSAXS data collection and processing from expert practitioners in the field. Students may also be able to mail in samples for data collection on the BioCAT beamline (Sector 18 at the APS) before the course, and there will be time during the workshop to get help with analysis of their own data.
The course will take place from 12/10/24 to 12/13/24 and is entirely virtual (via Zoom). See the schedule below for details.
Registration
All participants this year will be remote participants. The course will provide a virtual set of lectures and tutorials via Zoom. Participants will be able to ask questions during both lectures and tutorials, and will have time to get help with analysis of their own data. They will also receive downloads of all course materials, including lecture slides and tutorials.
Note: This course is intended for researchers interested in scattering from monodisperse biological macromolecules in solution. It is NOT for soft matter, materials, or systems which are polydisperse.
Depending on facility availability, a limited number of participants may be able to mail in samples for SAXS data collection at BioCAT the week before the workshop. This availability will be determined closer to the start of the workshop.
Registration will be limited to 30 participants in order to allow for data collection and one-on-one and/or small-group interactions between participants and instructors. There is no cost associated with the workshop and registration will be granted upon review of a short application.
How to apply
To apply for a spot in the workshop fill out the short application. This requests basic contact and demographic data as well as your experience with SAXS and a paragraph about your research interests and proposed use of SAXS
Applications will be accepted through September 30th 2024, and reviewed the week of October 1st. You will be notified by email about your application.
The application is available here: https://forms.office.com/r/t07jQ3rp0X
More information
Course topics:
- Basic principles of SAXS
- Critical sample preparation and data collection procedures, including online size-exclusion chromatography (SEC-SAXS)
- Evaluating data quality
- Basic data processing including size (Rg, Dmax), molecular weight, the P(r) function, and real space reconstructions
- What you need to know for publication
- Overview of several advanced and emerging methods
- Hands-on tutorials with data processing software
Confirmed speakers:
- Jesse Hopkins (BioCAT, APS)
- Max Watkins (BioCAT, APS)
- Thomas Weiss (SMB, SSRL)
- Thomas Grant (U. Buffalo)
- Kushol Gupta (U. Pennsylvania)
- Estella Yee (MacCHESS, CHESS)
- Michal Hammel (SIBYLS, ALS)
If you have questions, please contact Jesse Hopkins (jhopkins1@iit.edu).
Tentative schedule
Note: All times are Central Standard Time (UTC-6)
Tuesday 12/10/24
10:00 am | Welcome |
10:05 am | SAXS overview |
10:35 am | SAXS Instrumentation |
10:55 am | Planning and performing SAXS experiments (inc. complementary methods) |
12:10 am | Break |
12:45 pm | Basic SAXS data validation and analysis |
02:00 pm | Q&A panel |
02:45 pm | End |
Wednesday 12/11/24
10:00 am | Overview of SAXS data processing software |
10:15 am | Tutorial: Basic data analysis |
12:45 pm | SEC-SAXS data collection and analysis |
01:30 pm | Tutorial: SEC-SAXS data analysis |
03:00 pm | End |
Thursday 12/12/24
10:00 am | Advanced analysis: Reconstructions and model fitting |
10:45 am | Publishing your SAXS data |
11:00 am | Advanced topic: Lipid Nanoparticles (LNPs) studied by SAXS and asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation (AF4/FFF) |
11:45 am | Tutorial: Reconstructions and model fitting |
03:00 pm | End |
Friday 12/13/24
10:00 am | Advanced analysis: Introduction to flexibility and ensemble modeling |
10:45 am | Advanced analysis: Introduction to rigid body modeling |
11:30 am | Advanced topic: Introduction to FoXS tools and BilboMD |
12:15 am | Break |
12:45 pm | Advanced topic: Time resolved SAXS |
01:30 pm | Hands-on: Data analysis of participant’s data |
02:30 pm | Planning experiments at BioCAT |
02:45 pm | Wrap up and final Q&A |
03:15 pm | End |