Dr. Jason W. Sidabras, Postdoc in the EPR Research Group at MPI CEC, received the 2020 IES Best Paper Award for his paper on a micro-helix resonator that was published in Science Advances last fall.

With the award, the International EPR Society (IES) highlights exciting advances and breakthrough developments in the broad area of Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR). The award is given to only two publications by young scientists per year. The first author of the respective paper is recognized with this award.

Dr. Sidabras, supported by a team of scientists from MPI CEC, TU Dortmund, Ruhr-University Bochum, and Humboldt University Berlin, developed a new microwave probe based on a small helical geometry (see NEWS 10/2019). The development of the microhelix for EPR spectroscopy allows for a number of interesting experiments to be performed on small protein single crystals (less than 30 nl volume). The information gathered can be used to benchmark quantum chemical calculations and further the understanding of the catalytic processes used in nature to inspire the next generation of green chemistry.

Original Publication: Sidabras, J.W., Duan, J., Winkler, M. Happe, T., Hussein, R., Zouni, A., Suter, D., Schnegg, A., Lubitz, W., Reijerse, E. Extending electron paramagnetic resonance to nanoliter volume protein single crystals using a self-resonant microhelix. Science Advances. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aay1394