NNP - The Norwegian NMR Platform

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a very versatile and important tool for research in biotechnology, medicine, and health, as well as nanotechnology and materials science. NMR can be used to determine the structure of molecules and study how these work in interaction with each other.

The high-field NMR instruments (≥800 MHz) that were installed at UiB, UiO and NTNU through NNP in 2015, have opened up new opportunities for studying proteins, carbohydrates, and natural substances with better sensitivity and resolution. They have contributed to increasing the understanding of how enzymes work, among other things to be able to produce biofuels in a fast and profitable way. The instruments have also been important in characterizing newly discovered chemical compounds with pharmaceutical and antibiotic activity. 

The infrastructure received an upgrade and thematic expansion through the award from 2021 and is now in the process of being well equipped for solid-state NMR. This makes it possible to do NMR studies on solid materials such as ceramics, polymers and glass, which among other things makes important contributions to the development of new batteries. Solid-state NMR also makes it possible to do functional studies of biological materials in semi-solid form, such as biopolymers and membrane proteins.

Through NNP-2, the infrastructure has also strengthened the capacity for high-throughput metabolomics analyses of body fluids and tissue samples. This makes it possible to discover new disease markers and study treatment responses, helping to shape the future of diagnostics and patient care.