In addition, extensive computer modeling is available at the center as a research resource. The center is directed by Professors Robert Callender and Marilyn Gunner. The center works with a number of researchers in academic, industrial, and governmental settings.
Vibrational spectroscopy is very sensitive to bond orders and bond lengths between bonded atoms.
As such, the electronic bonding structure can be determined. This information is complementary to protein crystallography and multi-dimensional NMR spectroscopy, which determine the distances between atoms to much lower resolution. In addition, dynamical studies with a ultimate resolution of picoseconds are possible. The Raman difference spectrometer, developed at City College, is capable of measuring a single vibrational mode in a large protein, which may contain over 10000 such modes. It thus represents a new generation in vibrational spectroscopy for the study of structure and dynamics of proteins and other biomolecules.