York Scientists Gain Prestigious Awards

The research team, named ‘The Collaborative Computational Project Number 4 in Protein Crystallography’ (CCP4) was recognized for its contribution to software developments, which underpin research in the pharmaceutical industry and academic laboratories worldwide.

The team was set up in 1979 by a group of academics to encourage collaboration in the field of structural biology.

It plays an important role in the education and training of scientists in experimental structural biology and it draws most of its researchers from the chemistry department at the University of York.

The CCP4 team was nominated for the RSC award by Professor Gideon Davies of the department of Chemistry.

He described the team as "one of the jewels of UK collaborative science" and referred to the fact that their collection of software has been used by "most, if not all, of the recent Nobel Prize winning scientists working in X-ray crystallography".

The annual award will be presented to the team at a symposium this August, where they will receive a medal and £2,000.

Professor Eleanor Dodson, a member of team CCP4, will receive a second honour for her contribution towards the computational side of crystallography.

The Ewald Award, which is presented every three years, consists of a medal, a certificate and an award of $10,000, which will be presented to Dodson at the International Congress of Crystallography in Madrid in August.

Professor Dodson, who has worked at the University of York since 1976 and has been a Professor in the Department of Chemistry since 2001, said that she felt "honoured" to receive the award.

She added: "It reflects the great contribution that CCP4 has made to the rapid development of structural biology".