2.3 Million Euros for Nano Research

German Research Foundation (DFG) Approved Funding for New High-performance Microscope at Freie Universität Berlin. ' 288/2016 from Sep 02, 2016 The German Research Foundation has designated 2.3 million euros for a new cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) at Freie Universität Berlin. This high-performance microscope will be used by researchers from the Department of Biology, Chemistry, and Pharmacy and cooperating scientists at the Research Center for Electron Microscopy (FZEM) of Freie Universität. The cryo-TEM has evolved in recent years into a powerful tool for high-resolution structural elucidation of natural and synthetic supramolecular aggregates. Using cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), very fine structures in the nanometer range can - while flash-frozen at minus 180 degrees Celsius by liquefied ethane gas - be studied in a fixed aqueous environment. Fixation preserves the natural structures that are formed in solution. Classical electron microscopic preparation methods require drying of the samples, which however, alters the structure and environment of the molecules.