Rita and John Cornforth Award 2011 Winners

Collaborative Computational Project 4 - STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

Awarded for providing a resource that underpins macromolecular structural chemistry worldwide and for exemplar team-ethos over many years.

About the Winner

The Collaborative Computational Project Number 4 (CCP4) was established in 1979 by the UK Science and Engineering Research Council to promote collaboration between UK groups writing software for macromolecular crystallography. Over the 32 years of its existence, it has evolved to fulfill two main roles: the production and support of an integrated suite of programs for macromolecular X-ray crystallography, and the dissemination of theory and best practice to the growing body of researchers applying the technique. 

CCP4 aims to both develop and support development of approaches to experimental determination and analysis of protein structure. It is a community-based resource that draws heavily on the voluntary contribution of software from leading developers to complement targeted investment in infrastructural projects such as the standardization of file formats and libraries. CCP4 supports a core team of dedicated developers that was for many years based at the SERC Daresbury Laboratory and is now located at the Research Complex at Harwell. 

With the cooperation of the Computational Science and Engineering Department of the Science and Technology Facilities Council, which harbors the core team and finances of the project, CCP4 also supports programmers engaged in development within practicing crystallography laboratories. Together, these activities underpin the structural biology successes of the widest possible researcher community, embracing academic, not for profit, and commercial research. This role is made possible by vitally important grant income from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Medical Research Council, leveraging further income from commercial license holders.

CCP4 plays a key role in the education and training of scientists in experimental structural biology by encouraging the broad dissemination of new ideas, techniques and practice. CCP4's flagship annual study weekend, where around 500 UK and international crystallographers gather to exchange experiences and ideas in computational crystallography, is complemented by sponsorship and outreach activities at several national and international meetings. However, the community nature of CCP4 is nowhere more apparent than on its widely used bulletin board. With queries and contributions from crystallographers around the world, from within and beyond the CCP4 team, this resource is probably the most complete repository of knowledge about the theory and practice of macromolecular crystallography.