About us

The IBS is an internationally recognized research centre in the field of integrated structural biology. Our institute explores the structure and dynamics of proteins and other biological macromolecules to understand how they function at the atomic level and in a cellular environment.

Biological phenomena - such as host cell defences against infection, membrane transport, molecular mechanisms of cancer, adaptation of molecules to extreme environments, DNA repair, epigenetic regulation and programmed cell death - are highly complex. To understand these and other fundamental cellular processes, we aim to obtain an accurate description of the biological molecules involved by studying their structure, dynamics and interactions with molecular partners and by elucidating the relationship between their structure and function.

Current challenges in structural biology include the structure determination of large macromolecular assemblies and the understanding of protein dynamics within such assemblies or in a cellular environment. Such challenges require a multidisciplinary approach at the interface of biology, physics and chemistry, as well as powerful instruments and methods of analysis spanning different resolution scales, available at the institute or nearby. Establishing multidisciplinary collaborative networks is also critical for the success of our research.

We hope you will find this website useful, whether you are a student, scientist, professional or member of the general public.

  • Institute

    The IBS is a mixed research unit (UMR 5075) jointly operated by two French national research agencies (the CEA and the CNRS) and the University Grenoble Alpes (UGA). Director: Winfried (...)

  • Location

    The Institut de Biology Structurale is located in the city of Grenoble in the french Alps, 45 minutes from the international airport of Lyon Saint Exupery, 2 hours from Geneva and Turin. Paris is (...)

  • Research partnership

    Since the establishment of the institute, the complexity of the issues we are trying to solve is increasing, thus making local partnerships (between IBS groups or involving institutions on EPN (...)