Introduction
Mission
It is the mission of the Netherlands Proteomics Center (NPC) to shape coherence and collaboration in proteomics research in the Netherlands. Thereby, the NPC wants to continue to be recognized as an internationally outstanding partner in proteomics research in Europe and beyond.The NPC will improve and widen fundamental technological tools in proteomics and proteomics related bioinformatics research, and through well-organized knowledge transfer will make them available to the biological and biomedical research communities at large. With the help of these new tools proteomics research will contribute to a better understanding of processes of health and disease, and pave the way for the generation of new means for intervention and prevention of undesired life-processes.
Goals
The NPC aims to further establish and extend its role as an internationally competitive proteomics research centre. The NPC will effectively coordinate collaborations between leading Dutch research groups, focussed on clearly defined technologically and biologically relevant research themes. These collaborations include the NGI Centres of Excellence as preferred partners and extend to international high-quality research groups.
The national proteomics research network will be internationally visible as one of the leading European expertise centres and form an attractive partner for academic and industrial research. Improved proteomics technologies will be implemented into cutting edge genomics and life sciences research, addressing a range of societal and economically important issues e.g. disease treatment and monitoring, industrial processing, nutrition and plant breeding.
In addition to technology development and application, the NPC will function as training facility for PhD students and research professionals. State of the art proteomics research strategy and techniques will be incorporated into master and PhD training programs of the NPC participating universities and the NPC research hotels provide excellent facilities for hands-on training of PhD’s and visiting research professionals.
Thus, a well organized and vivid proteomics research network will link our national top groups in proteomics to the international field of academic and industrial research aiming at the application of improved technologies to societal and economically relevant issues. The NPC research program together with the NPC research hotels will provide excellent means for scientific training of young professionals and a flexible structure for collaborations with other leading academic and industrial research groups. In this way, the NPC will significantly contribute to the advancement of genomics research and facilitate the valorisation of its results.
It is the mission of the Netherlands Proteomics Center (NPC) to shape coherence and collaboration in proteomics research in the Netherlands. Thereby, the NPC wants to continue to be recognized as an internationally outstanding partner in proteomics research in Europe and beyond.The NPC will improve and widen fundamental technological tools in proteomics and proteomics related bioinformatics research, and through well-organized knowledge transfer will make them available to the biological and biomedical research communities at large. With the help of these new tools proteomics research will contribute to a better understanding of processes of health and disease, and pave the way for the generation of new means for intervention and prevention of undesired life-processes.
Goals
The NPC aims to further establish and extend its role as an internationally competitive proteomics research centre. The NPC will effectively coordinate collaborations between leading Dutch research groups, focussed on clearly defined technologically and biologically relevant research themes. These collaborations include the NGI Centres of Excellence as preferred partners and extend to international high-quality research groups.
The national proteomics research network will be internationally visible as one of the leading European expertise centres and form an attractive partner for academic and industrial research. Improved proteomics technologies will be implemented into cutting edge genomics and life sciences research, addressing a range of societal and economically important issues e.g. disease treatment and monitoring, industrial processing, nutrition and plant breeding.
In addition to technology development and application, the NPC will function as training facility for PhD students and research professionals. State of the art proteomics research strategy and techniques will be incorporated into master and PhD training programs of the NPC participating universities and the NPC research hotels provide excellent facilities for hands-on training of PhD’s and visiting research professionals.
Thus, a well organized and vivid proteomics research network will link our national top groups in proteomics to the international field of academic and industrial research aiming at the application of improved technologies to societal and economically relevant issues. The NPC research program together with the NPC research hotels will provide excellent means for scientific training of young professionals and a flexible structure for collaborations with other leading academic and industrial research groups. In this way, the NPC will significantly contribute to the advancement of genomics research and facilitate the valorisation of its results.
From Genomics to Proteomics and a national research centre
The sequencing of the human genome and many other genomes has initiated a new age in human biology, offering unprecedented opportunities to improve human health and to stimulate scientific, industrial and economic activity. Following this historical landmark in science, the emphasis is now rapidly moving to the biological interpretation of the genome sequence information. This biological interpretation, which encompasses the immense tasks of identifying structure, function and interactions of the gene-products, i.e. the proteins, and their role in biological processes, is heavily relying on the field of proteomics. Proteomics is the application of evolving technologies to analyze proteins on a large scale to measure protein expression profiles and protein modifications and networks related to development, health/disease and other biological processes. Research in this innovative field and its rapid implementation into biological and biomedical research and applications, is the core activity of this project.
The sequencing of the human genome and many other genomes has initiated a new age in human biology, offering unprecedented opportunities to improve human health and to stimulate scientific, industrial and economic activity. Following this historical landmark in science, the emphasis is now rapidly moving to the biological interpretation of the genome sequence information. This biological interpretation, which encompasses the immense tasks of identifying structure, function and interactions of the gene-products, i.e. the proteins, and their role in biological processes, is heavily relying on the field of proteomics. Proteomics is the application of evolving technologies to analyze proteins on a large scale to measure protein expression profiles and protein modifications and networks related to development, health/disease and other biological processes. Research in this innovative field and its rapid implementation into biological and biomedical research and applications, is the core activity of this project.
In the Netherlands, proteomics efforts have so far been performed on a limited scale due to the high costs. This has changed with the foundation of the Netherlands Proteomics Centre (NPC) in which state-of-the-art expertise and research is brought together. “This will give Dutch proteomics research an enormous boost”, says Professor dr. Albert Heck, initiator and scientific director of the NPC.
The Netherlands Proteomics Centre is a platform for hypothesis-driven research that will develop technologies and tools for researchers and product developers in knowledge institutes and industry. The centre encompasses all aspects of knowledge and knowledge-transfer - from education through genomics- and proteomics-based bachelor’s, master’s and PhD curricula -, to collaborative research projects with scientific and industrial outcomes. The infrastructure within the NPC is already such that top researchers work together. The NPC also includes a proteomics ‘hotel facility’ intended for visiting academic and industrial researchers, both within and outside the centre, including European partners.
Netherlands Genomics Initiative
Netherlands Genomics Initiative
The NPC is one of the technologies initiatives of the Netherlands Genomics Initiative (NGI), next to the Netherlands Bioinformtics Centre (NBIC), the Netherlands Metabolomics Centre (NMC), the Netherlands Consortium for Systems Biology (NCSB) and the Netherlands Toxicogenomics Centre (NTC). NGI coordinates the genomics research in the Netherlands. The NPC will collaborate with the Genomics Centres of Excellence as well as with the National Bioinformatics Initiative and the Academic Biomedical Centre (ABC) of Utrecht University. It will also actively engage into new European initiatives in the field.