# Expansion of the 'Getting Started in Cryo-EM' course into a comprehensive theory and practice curriculum

> **NIH NIH R25** · CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · 2020 · $118,029

## Abstract

Project Summary
Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a rapidly emerging technology for structural biology. While
excitement and demand for the technology are high, the pace of training cryo-EM practitioners lags far behind.
There are two major hurdles to the development of effective training programs: (1) potential learners come
from a wide range of backgrounds and career stages, from graduate students to established structural
biologists; and (2) learning cryo-EM requires many hours of hands-on “behind the wheel” training on
specialized, expensive equipment that is often unavailable to learners at their home institutions. While some
hands-on training schools exist for cryo-EM, they train only a handful of students a year, while demand for the
technique requires orders of magnitude more. Workshops enroll more students, but are too short to teach all
the necessary theory and lack a hands-on component. To train a skilled workforce of cryo-EM practitioners,
here I propose the framework for a comprehensive online curriculum, based on my successful “Getting Started
in Cryo-EM” video lectures, covering the theory and practice of all major cryo-EM modalities. The curriculum
will target two groups: (1) the growing number of non-practitioners who want to learn about cryo-EM but will not
operate a microscope themselves and (2) future cryo-EM practitioners. For non-practitioners such as
professors who want to add a discussion of cryo-EM to their courses, I will develop four “Teacher Packs,”
containing video lectures and associated instructor resources (flipped class discussion questions, review
slides, homework problems, and exam questions), each targeted to a different course format. For practitioners,
together with Matthijn Vos and Tamir Gonen I will develop modular “Units” of theoretical and lab demonstration
videos, accompanied by training manuals and certification tests. Units will cover general cryo-EM theory and
operation, single-particle reconstruction, tomography, micro-electron diffraction / electron crystallography, and
advanced topics and troubleshooting for facility managers, and can be combined to meet the specific needs of
the learner. In conjunction with supervised training at a user's home facility or cryo-EM service center, the
curriculum will offer everything a student needs to understand the theory of, and begin practicing, their desired
cryo-EM technique.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9928960
- **Project number:** 5R25EY029128-03
- **Recipient organization:** CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
- **Principal Investigator:** GRANT J JENSEN
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $118,029
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-05-01 → 2021-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9928960

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9928960, Expansion of the 'Getting Started in Cryo-EM' course into a comprehensive theory and practice curriculum (5R25EY029128-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9928960. Licensed CC0.

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