Prof. Dr. Terry Lybrand, Vanderbilt University Nashville, USA 10. – 12. July 2013, Leipzig University Course description: This short course will cover basic background information and applications details for molecular mechanics calculations, including energy minimization and molecular dynamics simulations. Some basic theory will be presented, but the course will focus primarily on practical details for molecular mechanics calculations and will include numerous “hands-on” exercises, i.e., the students will get the opportunity to perform all necessary steps for typical calculations. We will discuss the capabilities and limitations of different types of calculations, the information required to perform useful calculations, and analysis techniques to allow you to extract useful information from these calculations.
15. – 18. July 2013, Leipzig University Prof. Dr. Hassane Mchaourab, Vanderbilt University Nashville, USA Course description: This is an advanced, intensive course directed at graduate students. It is intended to provide an overview of the EPR spectroscopy and its application to protein biophysics. Electron paramagnetic resonance is a magnetic resonance technique for the analysis of naturally occurring or introduced free radicals. In protein spin labeling, a stable free radical, spin label, is introduced specifically into the protein sequence via site-directed mutagenesis. The lectures will describe the technical and biochemical aspects of protein spin labeling, discuss the spectral parameters that are determined from EPR analysis of spin labeled proteins and their