Moving NMR infrastructures to remote access capabilities

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Biophysics
• Materials Science

Background:

• Historically, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) research required in-person access to specialized facilities.
• The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the exploration and validation of remote access technologies for NMR.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the challenges and opportunities of remote access for NMR instrumentation.
• To propose a unified framework for enhancing NMR facility accessibility and sustainability.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of remote access technologies and their application to NMR.
• Analysis of key components: sample handling, authentication, instrument control, and data management.
• Examination of requirements for a unified remote access framework.

Main Results:

• Remote NMR access is technically feasible and offers strategic advantages.
• Key challenges include standardizing sample handling, ensuring secure access, and managing data.
• Opportunities lie in improving sustainability and global accessibility of NMR resources.

Conclusions:

• A collaborative approach is essential to develop best practices for remote NMR.
• Standardized protocols are crucial for reproducibility and high-quality data acquisition.
• Implementing remote access can lead to more equitable global access to NMR infrastructure.