Services & pricing

• free consultation

If you are new to the field of cryo-EM and not sure how to get started, talk to us. The biochemical purification of your samples will be your responsibility, but we are happy to discuss the feasibility of your project and offer guidance on how to prepare suitable samples. 

• sample preparation for microscopy

A plunge-freezer for the preparation of cryo-EM grids is available at the facility. Users are welcome to get trained and freeze their own grids, in which case you only pay for the use of the instrument. You may also choose to simply drop off your sample and pay a staff member to freeze your grids.  

• screening

Cryo-EM grids need to be screened in order to identify suitable samples for data collection. The imaging software is easy to handle and users are encouraged to get trained and perform their own screening. You may also choose our screening service, in which case a staff member will perform your screening (with or without your participation) at an extra charge.

You should plan to spend 30-45 min per grid and for an initial screening, 1 grid per condition is usually sufficient to get an idea of the sample quality.     

• data collection

High resolution data collections are set up by a staff member (you are welcome to join if you like) and run in an automated fashion, typically overnight or over the weekend. Sessions can range from 2-48 hours, depending on your project and your goals.

A typical 12-h session yields between 5.000 and 10.000 images, which in many cases is sufficient for a high-resolution structure.     

• pre-processing

Motion correction and CTF estimation will be performed in real-time during data collection, using cryoSPARC Live on our pre-processing GPU-server. Users are provided with raw data as well as motion corrected images, which are available for download from our file server.

• data storage

Datasets are stored on our file server for 4 weeks after your session, free of charge. Long-term storage is your own responsibility. Users from the University of Freiburg may rent storage space at the Rechenzentrum [Link].

The facility is currently not offering data processing as a service. However, we are happy to offer advice and/or put you in touch with our expert users who may be able to help you in form of a collaboration. 

User fees