# Refinement starting at it1 stage?
**URL:** https://ask.bioexcel.eu/t/refinement-starting-at-it1-stage/2376
**Category:** HADDOCK
**Created:** [August 3, 2020, 7:03pm UTC](https://ask.bioexcel.eu/t/refinement-starting-at-it1-stage/2376 "2020-08-03T19:03:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@JacobVerburgt](https://ask.bioexcel.eu/u/JacobVerburgt)
#### Post date: [August 3, 2020, 7:03pm UTC](https://ask.bioexcel.eu/t/refinement-starting-at-it1-stage/2376/1 "2020-08-03T19:03:31Z")
Hello,
I am inquiring to see if it is possible to run refinement jobs starting at the it1 stage, instead of the water refinement stage. I would like to take a pre-docked complex, put it through semi-flexible refinement, and then into the explicit solvent refinement. There is a nice tutorial on how to run only water refinement in the `examples/refine-complexes` directory (as well as the refinement interface on the web-server) but I have not seen anybody run refinement with the it1 stage. Is this possible to do?
Any suggestions and/or examples would be of great help. Thank you!
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### Author:  [@amjjbonvin](https://ask.bioexcel.eu/u/amjjbonvin)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2020, 9:18am UTC](https://ask.bioexcel.eu/t/refinement-starting-at-it1-stage/2376/2 "2020-08-04T09:18:35Z")
Hi Jacob
You can indeed do that. In that case don’t set the number of steps for the it1 stages to 0 - leave those to the default values
And you can use either centre of mass of surface contact restraints. The remaining settings are the same as for the refinement examples.
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### Author:  [@JacobVerburgt](https://ask.bioexcel.eu/u/JacobVerburgt)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2020, 1:24pm UTC](https://ask.bioexcel.eu/t/refinement-starting-at-it1-stage/2376/3 "2020-08-04T13:24:02Z")
Thank you very much for your help!