Core Facilities Workshop: XRF Boot Camp

Protein Crystallization and X-Ray Diffraction (pcxrd)

The practical course in crystallization and diffraction is intended to be a precursor to the one semester graduate level macromolecular crystallization special topics course taught every other year. In this course, we will cover basic concepts of crystals, symmetry, crystallization, x-ray generation, radiation safety, x-ray diffraction, cryo safety, cryogenic technique, data collection, data processing, Linux o/s, computer graphics, data visualization, and model building. More emphasis will be given to hands-on training and lab work than the full-fledged graduate course.

2011 Course Schedule [M/T Nov 14/15 and Nov 28/29, 2011]

At the end of this course, you will learn basic concepts in:

• Protein crystallization and crystal symmetry
• Cryogenic safety and cryo-crystallography
• Need for crystals, cryogenic temperatures, and X-Rays
• X-Ray generation and safety
• X-Ray diffraction and data collection
• Linux operating system and running programs
• Computer graphics and model visualization

2011 Syllabus [Module A | Module B]

• 1. Symmetry, lattices, crystals, and crystallization
• 2. Crystals and protein crystallization set-up
• 3. Crystallization observation and optimization
• 4. X-Rays, radiation safety and X-Ray generation
• 5. Cryogenics safety and cryo-crystallography
• 6. X-Ray Diffraction set-up and data collection
• 7. Linux operating system and computer graphics
• 8. Data processing and visualization and wrap-up

Sessions high-lighted in bold will involve more hands-on training time and sessions high-lighted in italics will involve more lecture time.

Updated: January 30, 2015.