News

Congratulations to PhD graduation of CEM-program member Mohammad Amin Khosrozadeh

On January 30, 2025, Mohammad Amin Khosrozadeh, member of the Institute of Anatomy, Research Group of Prof. Dr. Benoît Zuber, University of Bern, and student at the Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences (GCB) and the PhD program Cutting Edge Microscopy (CEM), has successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled "Morphological Principle of Synaptic Transmission Regulation Using Cryo-Electron Tomography and Data-Driven Models".

Dr. Khosrozadeh reports on his research as follows: During my PhD studies, I investigated the nanoscale organization of synaptic vesicles and their regulation using advanced cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) techniques and computational analysis methods. I developed CryoVesNet, a deep learning-based segmentation tool that enables automated analysis of synaptic vesicles in their native state. By applying graph theoretical modeling to synaptic ultrastructure, I uncovered how vesicle pools transition between supercritical and critical states during varying levels of synaptic activity. This work provides new insights into the structural basis of neurotransmission and synaptic plasticity. Additionally, I established methodologies for high-resolution structural analysis of membrane proteins, achieving sub-4Å resolution of pore-forming toxins while preserving their native lipid interactions. These approaches open new possibilities for understanding the molecular architecture of synapses and the mechanisms underlying neurological disorders.

PhD program Cutting Edge Microscopy - Study Trip 2025

On January 24 and 25, 2025, a study tour took 10 PhD students of the PhD specialization program Cutting Edge Microscopy (CEM) and senior researchers involved in steering the CEM program to Heidelberg, Germany. On the first day, the students visited the Infectious Diseases Imaging Platform (IDIP) at the Center for Integrative Infectious Disease (CIID) at Heidelberg University and on the second day, the study tour continued with a visit to the brand new Imaging Center at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). Both facilities have an impressive portfolio of imaging techniques and microscopic instruments. Educational presentations with research examples from institute members and site visits provided an insight into the facilities. The institute directors Vibor Laketa, IDIP, Heidelberg University, and Timo Zimmermann, Imaging Center, EMBL, warmly welcomed the students and guided them through the program. The event was rounded off with an interesting guided tour of Heidelberg at night. This news article is supplemented by a downloadable report written by the students.

MIC Symposium 2024

On November 15th, the MIC Symposium themed “Bio-inspired materials and bioengineering” was hosted for the first time at the University of Fribourg. Science Faculty Vice Dean, Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser, welcomed about 150 participants in the Joseph Deiss Auditorium. She highlighted microscopy at the University of Fribourg and as the first MIC coordinator shared insights about the early days of the MIC in Bern. 

Simon Sprecher from Biology, University of Fribourg, kicked off the biomedical imaging session, demonstrating how neuronal activity can be visualized in Drosophila taste organs. Anja Hauser from Charité Berlin discussed how the tissue environment influences the metabolism of myeloid cells in bone marrow. Christian Soeller from Physiology, University of Bern, presented super-resolved images of receptor clusters in cardiac muscle cells using the new MINFLUX system. Closing the session, Mario Prsa from Medicine, University of Fribourg, showed a robotic system that delivers precise proprioceptive stimuli to a mouse forelimb while imaging and manipulating neuronal brain activity with multiphoton microscopy. 

During lunch and coffee breaks, attendees interacted with 14 commercial exhibitors showcasing the latest technologies and instruments. 

The second session focused on how natural phenomena inspire the development of innovative materials and technologies. Aleksandra Radenovic from EPFL used fluorescence microscopy to monitor electrochemical reactions at the single-molecule scale. Derek Kiebala from Chemistry, University of Mainz, demonstrated the use of confocal microscopy to study force sensors at the microscale level. Viola Bauernfeind from AMI, University of Fribourg, concluded the session by showing how the order or disorder of microscopic structures affects structural colors in nature. 

The third session addressed advances in imaging single molecules at nanoscale. Guillermo Acuna from Phyisics, University of Fribourg, presented a self-made low-cost super-resolution microscope adapted for smartphones. Pablo Rivera-Fuentes from the University of Zürich showed how the blinking patterns of single fluorophores can be used to accurately distinguish peptide sequences. Sophie Brasselet from the Institute Fresnel in Marseille concluded the symposium by demonstrating how the 3D orientation of single molecules can be detected in cells using polarization fluorescence microscopy. 

The local scientific committee, Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser, Jens Stein, Boris Egger, and Dimitri Vanhecke, extends their gratitude to all speakers for their insightful and inspiring talks. Special thanks go to the MIC administration and local crew for their meticulous preparations. The symposium would not be possible without the generous financial support from the numerous commercial sponsors, thank you all! Finally, thanks to all participants for the lively interactive sessions. We hope you enjoyed the MIC symposium and look forward to seeing you again next year! 

SNSF Scientific Image Competition 2025

Get your cameras! Give Swiss research a face. 

​​​The SNSF Scientific Image Competition encourages researchers working in Switzerland to present their works to the public and the media. Photographs, images and videos will be rated in terms of their aesthetic quality and their ability to inspire and amaze, to convey or illustrate knowledge, to tell a human story or to let us discover a new universe.

The winning images will be exhibited at the Biel/Bienne Festival of Photography in May 2025.

Submission deadline is January 31, 2025.

Find more information here.

EMBL Imaging Center (EIC) Imaging Symposium

The EMBL Imaging Centre (EIC) User Symposium (https://www.embl.org/about/info/imaging-centre/32247-2/) was held on October 17-18, 2024, at EMBL Heidelberg, Germany. This event brought together around 60 current and prospective users of EIC (https://www.embl.org/about/info/imaging-centre/), along with leading experts in electron and light microscopy.

The symposium was preceded by workshops from Leica and Zeiss, where both companies showcased their latest products and services. Following the workshops, participants engaged in an extensive two-day scientific program. Sessions on light and electron microscopy featured presentations from field experts and EIC users, who shared insights from their research. Additionally, a short-talk session provided attendees with information about the services offered by the EIC and its future plans.

The symposium also served as an excellent networking platform for microscopy enthusiasts from various research institutes in Europe. During a panel discussion moderated by Simone Mattei and Timo Zimmermann (team leaders of electron and light microscopy at the EIC, respectively), participants had the opportunity to exchange experiences using the EIC’s services. Yury Belyaev from MIC also attended the meeting.

Researchers from the University of Bern can access the services of the EMBL Imaging Centre, as Switzerland is a member state of EMBL. Those interested in taking advantage of this opportunity should reach out via email at ic-contact@embl.de.

European Microscopy Congress (EMC) 2024

The 17th European Microscopy Congress (EMC) took place on August 24-29, 2024, in Copenhagen, Denmark, attracting over 1,500 researchers and industry representatives. The event focused on the latest advancements in microscopy in the life and materials sciences, with a strong emphasis on both light and electron microscopy techniques.

The EMC 2024 included sessions on light and electron microscopy, correlative methods, novel imaging modalities, and image processing. The event’s highlights were its plenary talks, five parallels symposia, and industry-led workshops. Attendees also explored emerging microscopy technologies, participated in interactive sessions, and attended pre-conference workshops.

In addition to the scientific program, over 90 leading manufacturers and suppliers of microscopy instrumentation showcased their latest products. This interaction between academia and industry offered delegates valuable insights into cutting-edge tools. The exhibition space fostered collaboration opportunities and supported the adoption of innovative technologies within the research community.

The Microscopy Imaging Center (MIC) was represented by Benoit Zuber and Yury Belyaev at EMC 2024. Calvin Klein, a PhD student from Wanda Kukulski’s lab and a member of the CEM program, also attended and received the best poster presentation award.

CEM Summer School 2024

From July 4 to 5, 2024, the annual summer school of the PhD program Cutting Edge Microscopy (CEM) took place at the Seehotel in Bönigen, Switzerland. All students gave scientific presentations on their projects, focusing on applied microscopy and the results obtained. To enhance the interactive style of the presentations, the students presented in teams. The teams had to find a common denominator, usually the research area, which they then presented in the form of a joint presentation. This format encouraged a more lively atmosphere and was much appreciated by all participants. The subsequent individual progress reports from the students delved deeper into the microscopy applications. The review of the scientific part of the summer school took the form of a quiz where each student contributed to a pool of questions. Senior participants of the CEM Summer School 2024 were MIC microscopy specialists Fabian Blank and Yury Belyaev, MIC bioimaging specialist Ana Stojiljkovic from the Data Science Lab (DSL) and CEM PhD program scientific co-directors Benoît Zuber and Steven Proulx. Ruth Lyck, the coordinator of the CEM PhD program, was responsible for the quiz and the organization of the trip. A special guest was Vibor Laketa, Head of the Platform for Infectious Disease Imaging at the University of Heidelberg, who gave a lecture on the topic of ethics in handling and publishing BioImage data. In addition to the scientific program, a discussion about the upcoming activities of the CEM PhD program took place and the new CEM student representatives Marwa Mangattu Parambil and Jasmina El Fata were elected. The beautiful landscape, the pleasant accommodation and the free time to enjoy Lake Brienz or to go jogging contributed to a perfect learning atmosphere.

MIC Research Day 2024

On June 26, 2024, more than 180 participants from the Universities of Bern, Fribourg and Zurich, the EPFL in Lausanne and representatives from industry attended the traditional MIC Research Day, which took place at the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences (DCBP). The balanced program of the event was presented by microscopists Li Xin, Isabel Schultz-Pernice, Saiko Yoshida, Oleksiy-Zakhar Khoma, Alicia Borgeaud, Divyansh Gautam, Matis Preza, Reto Lang and Benjamin Towbin, ranging from PhD students to established researchers and coming from all three faculties of the MIC (Vetsuisse, Natural Sciences and Medicine). In excellent presentations, these scientists showed the broad spectrum of microscopy applications represented in the MIC community.

In addition, Peter Gehr, Professor Emeritus of the Institute of Anatomy and co-founder of the MIC, spoke about the history of the MIC. Two students of the PhD specialization program Cutting Edge Microscopy (CEM) presented the key elements of the CEM program. Dimitri Vanhecke invited the MIC community to the MIC Symposium 2024 on November 15 in Fribourg, with the theme "Bio-inspired Materials & Bio-Engineering". Arne Seitz from the Microscopy Facility of the EPFL promoted the LS2 intersection Microscopy, which forms an organ of the Swiss microscopy community. Martin Frenz and Volker Heussler were officially thanked for their many years of service as MIC committee members, Volker Heussler also being a member of the MIC board for several years. Our special guest Nicholas James Desnoyer from the University of Zurich gave a breathtaking presentation on the development of plants in live imaging. Nicholas wowed the MIC community with his enthusiasm and dedication to showing the beauty of nature in pictures and movies.

As usual, this event offered numerous opportunities for networking among imaging professionals at the University of Bern. To encourage networking, a meet-the-expert session was offered during lunch. Networking was also supported by the industry partners with their exhibition and industry talk, which fitted well into the event. We would like to thank all CEM PhD students for their help with the organization, all participants for their enthusiasm for microscopy and the event sponsors for their generous financial support. 

Please find some impressions from the MIC Research Day 2024 here.

Industry call for the best microscopy image

Following the success of past Image of the Year Awards, the search for the best light microscopy images in 2024 continues. The fifth annual Image of the Year competition recognizes the very best in scientific imaging worldwide.

The contest welcomes materials science images in addition to life science images to show the versatility of the art of science. This year, a new video category is introduced, enabling microscopists to show off the best of their moving images.

Participants can win an SZX7 microscope with a DP23 digital camera, X Line™ objectives, a CX23 microscope, or an SZ61 microscope.

Click here to learn more and submit your entry. Good luck!

CEM Study Trip 2024

On February 1 and 2, 2024, a study trip took 18 PhD students of the PhD specialization program Cutting Edge Microscopy (CEM) and 3 "seniors", who were the CEM program scientific co-director Benoît Zuber, the MIC light microscopy specialist Yury Belyaev and the CEM coordinator Ruth Lyck, to Milan, Italy. There, the students visited the Human Technopole Institute (HT) in Rho Fiera. The HT is a large-scale research infrastructure launched by the Italian government in 2018. Since 2024, the HT has opened the first national facilities offering services and training for biomedical research with cutting-edge technology. Fabrizio Martino, Licensing Officer at the Human Technopole, warmly welcomed the students and seniors and introduced the HT facilities. The two-day program included a visit to the cryo-EM facility, the light microscopy facility, the spatial omics unit and a demonstration of electrophysiological experiments in microscopy and optical tweezers. Read more about the CEM PhD students' study trip to Milan in the pdf file linked below.

DSL & MIC retreat "Virtual Imaging Analysis"

On January 26, 2024, 25 participants from the faculties of Vetsuisse, Natural sciences, and Medicine met for DSL (www.dsl.unibe.ch) and MIC (www.mic.unibe.ch) retreat. The topic of the meeting was a feasibility of establishing a Virtual Imaging Platform at the University of Bern. The aim of this platform is to provide comprehensive support and virtualised IT infrastructure for storage, handling, and analysis of the images for all interested researchers at Bern.

In the morning session Guillaume Witz (DSL), Stefan Tschanz (ANA) and Sigve Haug (DSL) described the current situation and issues related to the launch of this platform, as well as available digitalisation initiatives around Bern. All participants also presented their expectations and user needs, which can be met by such a platform. The status of the image analysis and data storage has been discussed in detailed talks of the scientists from the Institutes of Human and Animal Anatomy, Cell Biology, Theodor Kocher Institute and other research units of the university. In the afternoon session the participants of the retreat reviewed concrete steps of implementing the platform, which resources are currently available, and how to develop a sustainable financial model of operation.

The common note of the retreat was that the organisation of this platform would be extremely advantageous. It can offer new services to the imaging community at the University of Bern and contribute to more quantitative and reproducible science. To achieve this goal, a working group was set up to evaluate existing resources, to discuss with stake holders at UniBE (e.g. Informatikdienste, ID) and to prepare the application to the University of Bern's Digitization Commission (Steuerungsgruppe Digitale Infrastruktur, SDIG).

MIC Research Day 2024 - Invitation

We are pleased to invite you to our annual MIC Research Day on June 26, 2024. 

The MIC Research Day is the MIC's annual networking event for scientists at the University of Bern. It brings together scientists who use microscopy with other interested researchers who want to use microscopy. Young scientists and established researchers present data from their exciting research projects. Scientists from other universities and from the research-oriented industry are cordially invited to take part in the MIC Research Day.

We are happy to present a day full of interesting topics and discussions and we are honoured to welcome great speakers who will share their expertise on microscopy in their various research areas.

We are looking forward to welcome you in June.

Find all information and registration here.

Seminar and Demonstration - Cytation C10 confocal imaging reader

The Seminar and Demonstration to introduce the Cytation C10 confocal imaging reader from Agilent Technologies in collaboration with the Microscopy Imaging Center will take place on May 15, 2024 at the IRM in Bern. Please find more information here. 

CEM Presentation Event - December 2023

On December 07, our third and final Presentation Event of the PhD program Cutting Edge Microscopy (CEM) for the year 2023 took place. As our special guest we welcomed Elio Pellin from the Open Science unit of the University of Bern, who presented on the topic “Publications”. This educational presentation showed up the many possible paths leading to Open Access publishing. Scientific presentations were given by Jana Leuenberger, Tangtang Xiang and Oleksiy Khoma. Oleksiy, who is a new member of the CEM program, presented his research project. The event was concluded with an aperitif.

MIC Symposium 2023

The MIC Symposium was held in 2023 on November 17^th with the theme “New Trends in Microscopy”.

The meeting was kicked off with a welcome address by Aurel Perren, the Deputy Dean of the Medical Faculty, and the exciting announcement by Britta Engelhardt, the president of the MIC, that the MIC was recently recognized as one of the five "official" core facilities of the University of Bern.

We moved on to the first session of our scientific program where we were introduced to methods by which single cells can be visualized in their large global context. Gail McConnell from the University of Strathclyde, UK presented optical imaging with the mesolens, a giant microscope objective that allows full 3D recording of many thousands of cells and amazed us by 3-D printing the lenses they use in their system. Thomas Nevian, Physiology, UniBern followed with his cutting edge work on how in vivo miniscopes can image single cell activity of neuronal cells in the brain of freely moving animals.

The second session took a bit of a turn to introduce how various ‘’omic’ technologies can be combined with imaging to provide spatial context of large proteomic, transcriptomic and metabolomic data sets. The session began with a talk by Hannah Williams, Institute of Tissue Medicine and Pathology (IGMP), UniBern who is coordinating the local Spatial Omics Consortium (SPOC, https://spoc-bern.squarespace.com) for those interested in the techniques and the latest developments in spatial omics. Joel Zindel, Visceral Surgery, UniBern presented his research on how he used spatial transcriptomics to identify new factors in abdominal adhesion formation. The session was concluded with a talk by from Daniel Schulz, Dept of Quantitative Biomedicine, UniZürich, in which he presented how imaging mass cytometry can be used to characterize protein and RNA in the tumor microenvironment and how this is used to compare 1000s of patient samples within the “Integrated iMMUnoprofiling of large adaptive CANcer patient cohorts” (IMMUcan) Consortium.

In our final session we had fascinating talks on new advances in super resolution and expansion microscopy. Paul Guichard, UniGeneva introduced us to the possibility of using expansion microscopy to increase the resolution of the molecular architectures by enlarging cells in a polymer matrix. Subcellular resolution imaging can then be achieved with conventional diffraction limited microscopes. The meeting was closed with an outstanding talk from Stefan Hell, Max-Planck-Institute, Germany in which he shared the history of developing super resolution microscopy that awarded him a Nobel prize and how he is continuing to develop the MINFLUX super-resolution microscope.

This year’s MIC symposium was a success due to the excellent speakers, and also from the excellent preparation by the MIC administration and our student helpers. And last, but not least due to the generous support we received from our industrial sponsors. The event was fully booked weeks in advance with over 200 registrations.

The scientific committee, Kerry Woods, Deborah Stroka, Thomas Nevian hope all attendees enjoyed the program and got an insight into new microscopy technologies that enable a more detailed look into the complexity of tissues and cells. Find more impressions here.

SNSF Scientific Image Competition 2024

​​​The SNSF Scientific Image Competition encourages researchers working in Switzerland to present their works to the public and the media. Photographs, images and videos will be rated in terms of their aesthetic quality and their ability to inspire and amaze, to convey or illustrate knowledge, to tell a human story or to let us discover a new universe. Find more information here.

All scientists working at a research institution in Switzerland are eligible to participate. The works must have been produced less than 12 months before the deadline for submitting entries.

The competition is held annually. An international jury will meet at the beginning of the year and award a CHF 1,000 prize in each category for the winning entry, as well as CHF 250 for each distinction. The award-winning works are announced in April or May, displayed in an exhibition at the Biel/Bienne Festival of Photography and made available to the public and the media, as well as to scientific institutions.

The competition has multiple aims: to highlight the growing role of images in scientific research, to reveal how scientific work is conducted and to give a face to the researchers conducting it. The competition also aims to encourage the media to use more images in their science coverage and make them accessible to the public through exhibitions.

Submission form.

Open Call for services from European research infrastructures, including Euro-BioImaging ERIC, for projects in the field of cancer research

The Horizon Europe provides a funding opportunity within the funded canSERV project. 

This call offers financial support for services provided by European research infrastructures, including Euro-BioImaging ERIC, for projects in the field of cancer research. The deadline for submitting applications is January 4, 2024. For more information, please click here:

• https://www.eurobioimaging.eu/news/open-calls-from-canserv-funding-for-cancer-research/
• https://www.canserv.eu/calls/open-call-for-transnational-service-provision/

BioVisionCenter

Recently the BioVisionCenter was founded, a co-foundation by the Friedrich Miescher Institute and the University of Zurich, dedicated to all activities related to computer vision and advanced processing of complex bioimage datasets.

To celebrate the launch and foster collaboration within the scientific community, they are organizing the BioVisionCenter Symposium on the 9^th and 10^th of November 2023. This symposium will bring together renowned experts in the field of bioimage analysis who will share their insights, present cutting-edge research, and discuss emerging trends. It will be an excellent opportunity for researchers, students, and professionals to network, exchange ideas, and explore potential collaborations. Find out more about the symposium and sign up here.

 

MIC Symposium 2023 - Invitation

We are pleased to invite you to our annual MIC Symposium taking place on November 17, 2023 at the UniS in Bern.

This year’s chosen topic of the MIC Symposium is “New Trends in Microscopy”. A wide range of topics on novel and unconventional microscopy techniques will be covered by speakers from different countries as well as by speakers from the University of Bern and from industry. Don't miss the opportunity to learn about the latest trends in microscopy and to network with participants and speakers from all over Europe. The Scientific Committee formed by Kerry Woods, Deborah Stroka and Thomas Nevian, all University of Bern, will guide you through the day. 

Registration is mandatory and places are limited. So register soon.

We look forward to meeting you at the MIC Symposium 2023 and are pleased to present a wide range of speakers and a day filled with exciting presentations, discussions and exchanges with all of you.

Swiss Microscopy Core-Facility Day 2023

11^th Swiss microscopy core facility day this year took place on September 14, 2023 in Zurich and was organised by ScopeM, an imaging platform of ETH Zurich. About 50 members of Swiss imaging facilities and representatives of microscopy companies convened for a day to discuss the questions related to recent microscopy developments and different aspects of microscopy faculty operation. In the morning talk, Matthia Karreman from DKFZ in Heidelberg, presented her research on imaging preclinical models of brain metastases with LM-uCT-EM corelative approaches. In the afternoon, sessions the number of facility and scientific speakers covered the subjects of super resolution and spatial omics, particularly how these new technologies can be implemented in an imaging facility. At the end of the meeting, participants were able to tour the ScopeM and see the most interesting systems there and learn about projects performed on them. The meeting finished with an informal apéro where the participants had a chance to network with each other and talk to speakers and industry delegates. Yury Belyaev represented MIC in this meeting. Next year the Swiss core facility day will be taking place in Geneva or Lausanne.

Industry Contest for young scientists

You are a young scientist, postdoc or junior professor in Germany, Austria, Switzerland or the Netherlands? You are working on an exciting cell biology project but do not have access to confocal high content imaging? The imaging part is missing for a step forward or your next publication?

Submit your imaging assay idea in the contest and win access to high quality results.

COMULIS Training School "Imaging Across Scales"

The five-day COMULIS Training School "Imaging Across Scales" took place at the University of Bern on September 4-8, 2023. Organized by Ruslan Hlushchuk, Benoît Zuber (Institute of Anatomy) and Yury Belyaev (Microscopy Imaging Center) this event offered a balanced mix of theory and hands-on experience for 9 students from 4 European countries.

The event started with a keynote talk by Stephan Handschuh of Vet-Med University of Wien on correlative workflow. Days 2 and 3 showcased diverse perspectives with speakers such as Ruslan Hlushchuk on uAngio CT, David Haberthür on uCT analysis, Paolo Ronchi from EMBL Heidelberg on X-ray tomography, and Benoît Zuber on SBF SEM. Industry views were presented by Phil Salmon from Bruker microCT and Emine Korkmaz from ThermoFisher Scientific. Joana Delgado Martins from University of Zurich discussed big data storage and handling.

Participants, divided into four rotating groups, took part in hands-on sessions covering uAngioCT sample preparation, uCT and EM imaging workflows and image processing. These sessions enabled a practical application of the topics discussed in the lectures and enabled participants a possibility of one-to-one communication with imaging experts.

The final day included group presentations and a feedback session, rounding off a week of comprehensive learning and networking, which also included a welcome dinner and a city tour. Overall, the program successfully fused expert talks, practical training, and networking activities.

The training school was supported by the Institute of Anatomy, Microscopy Imaging Center, and COMULISglobe - Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

CEM Summer School 2023

From July 6^th to 7^th, 2023, the annual summer school of the PhD program Cutting Edge Microscopy (CEM) took place at the Seehotel in Bönigen, Switzerland. Bönigen is a beautiful village on Lake Brienz. All students gave scientific presentations on their projects, with a focus on the microscopy applied and the results obtained. Since the students’ projects cover very different topics and a broad variety of microscopy, a new structure was tried: For each session, groups of 2 to 4 students were formed depending on the type of microscopy used or their scientific project. To introduce and explain the microscopy, the students were encouraged to make joint presentations. This format encouraged a more lively atmosphere and was greatly appreciated by all participants. The even livelier review of the scientific part of the summer school took the form of a quiz in which each student contributed to a question pool covering all presentations. Advice on how to implement microscopy in the projects was provided by the MIC microscopy specialists Fabian Blank and Yury Belyaev, the MIC bioimaging specialist Guillaume Witz and the CEM PhD program co-directors Benoît Zuber and Steven Proulx. Ruth Lyck, the CEM PhD program coordinator, was responsible for the quiz and hotel organization. In addition to the scientific program, a discussion on upcoming activities of the CEM PhD program took place. As the new CEM students’ representatives Adrian Madarasz and Marwa Mangattu Parambil were elected. During their term from August 2023 until July 2024, Adrian will join the MIC committee as the students’ representative. Another much appreciated activity was the visit of Leica Microsystems representatives Annette Rinck, CEO, and Michael Weuffen, Service manager. The beautiful landscape, the pleasant accommodation and free time to swim in Lake Brienz or go jogging contributed to a perfect learning atmosphere.

ELMI 2023

The 22nd International European Light Microscopy Initiative Meeting place on June 6-9, 2023 in Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands. More than 400 participants from Europe and the whole world discussed recent advances in light microscopy aimed at a life sciences audience.

During the first day of the meeting, in a traditional core facility session, the representatives of the imaging facilities discussed the topics of common interest such as cyber security, facility equipment maintenance and tools, staff development, data management.  During the following two and a half days of the conference the leading scientists in the field presented and discussed with delegates the latest achievements in microscopy. The topics of this year were: Functional imaging, new technologies, data management & analysis, intravital & light sheet, CLEM, and high content. Additionally, more than 50 leading companies active in microscopy instrumentation and related fields introduced latest cutting-edge technical developments in informative workshops and booth presentations. As usual, ELMI provided an excellent opportunity for networking with colleagues from Industry and Academia.

MIC was well represented by three MIC members. Olivier Pertz (Institute of Cell Biology), Ruslan Hlushchuk (Institute of Anatomy) and Yury Belyaev (MIC) attended the meeting. Olivier gave an invited talk ‘’Spatio-temporal interrogation of signalling networks using biosensor imaging and optogenetics’’ covering the latest work in his lab. Ruslan in his talk ‘’Towards high accuracy µCT-LM-EM correlative workflow with fluorescent µCT contrast’’ presented along with the research of his group also a collaborative project with Yury Belyaev and colleagues from the University of Fribourg (Felix Meyenhofer, Boris Egger) and the University of Porto (Paula Sampaio, Ines Alencastre and Maria Azevedo).

MIC Research Day 2023

On June 28, 2023, more than 120 participants from the University of Bern, Fribourg, Geneva, and industry representatives attended the traditional MIC research day, that took place at UniS. The well-balanced program of the event featured MIC users from all three Faculties of the MIC (Vetsuisse, Natural sciences and Medicine) as well as one researcher from the University of Fribourg and one industry speaker.

Nine scientists presented their research projects related to microscopy. Among them, Ora Hazak from the University of Fribourg introduced her studies of plant receptor-ligand signalling using fluorescence lifetime imaging. An industry representative, Nikolaos Droseros from GMP, informed the audience about the latest developments of lasers for multiphoton microscopy. Finally, two students who successfully graduated from the PhD program Cutting Edge Microscopy (CEM) received their certificates.

As usual, this event provided plenty of opportunities for networking among the imaging community at the University of Bern. We thank all CEM students for their help in the organization, all participants for their enthusiasm for microscopy and event sponsors for their generous financial support. 

Invitation to the MIC Research Day 2023

We are pleased to invite you to our annual MIC Research Day on June 28, 2023. 

The MIC Research Day shows a selection of research highlights based on microscopic techniques that have been realized by scientists from the University of Bern. Junior and senior researchers who are specialists in microscopy present data on their exciting research projects, which were achieved using state-of-the-art microscopy. With this event, the MIC brings together scientists using microscopy with other researchers who may wish to use the same instrument or a similar technique.

We are happy to present a day full of interesting topics and discussions and we are honoured to welcome great speakers who will share their expertise on microscopy in their various research areas.

We are looking forward to welcome you in June.

Find all information and registration here.

PhD Defense S. Mutlu

Seyran Mutlu student at the PhD program Cutting Edge Microscopy (CEM) under the supervision of PD Dr. Fabian Blank and PD Dr. med. Amiq Gazdhar will give her PhD Defense on April 26, 2023.

Title: Adoptive transfer of HGF overexpressing T cells as potential therapeutic approach for bleomycin injured lung mouse model

Abstract: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a lethal disease emerging from aberrant wound healing mechanisms disturbing the alveolar epithelial (AE) integrity. The immune system (IS) is known to be involved too. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) showed antifibrotic properties. We aim to study if adoptive transfer of HGF modified T cells (HGF-T cell treatment) in bleomycin injured mice (BLM model) may promote balancing of the pulmonary IS and repair of the AE.

We established a model of precision cut lung slices, which were analyzed by confocal microscopy in order to observed instillated T cells after treatment in the murine lung. Live-cell imaging was operated on co-cultures using the Incucyte system to see if HGF transfected T cells were interacting with myofibroblasts.

Congratulations to successful PhD Defense Daniëlle Verschoor

On February 10, 2023 Daniëlle Verschoor, student of the Cutting Edge Microscopy (CEM) program under the supervision of Prof. Stephan von Gunten, has successfully defended her PhD thesis with the title: “Granulocytes, fragile but resistant. Unraveling the treatment resistance of granulocytes.”

Her PhD project focused on the treatment resistant of inflammatory granulocyte, both neutrophils and eosinophils. Freshly isolated human peripheral granulocytes were stimulated with pro-inflammatory cytokines as GM-CSF and/or IL-5 followed by treatments as intravenous immunoglobulins, anti-siglec-7/9 or glucocorticoids to investigate their cell survival or death and to investigate possible mechanism involved in this response. In her project microscopy was used to characterize subsets of cells and analyze/visualize cell death. This all to unravel the mechanism responsible for their resistance to these treatments.

Demonstration Events

The InCell Analyser (INCA) high-throughput microscope at the Vetsuisse Faculty has to be replaced soon. To learn about the performance of instruments on the market demonstration events will be held for the Molecular Device (Nano/Micro) instrument on March 27-30 and for the Cytation 5 and 10 instruments on April 18-19, 2023. Please contact Prof. Kässmeyer, Dr. Kerry Woods or Dr. Helena Röss if you are interested in joining these demonstration events.

CEM Study Trip 2023

In February 2023, a study trip took the PhD students of the PhD program Cutting Edge Microscopy (CEM) to Freiburg i.B., Germany. Here, the students visited the Life Imaging Center (LIC) of the University of Freiburg. The institute is headed by Dr. Roland Nitschke, who warmly welcomed the students and led them through the 2-day program together with his team. A relaxing tour through the beautiful city center of Freiburg i.B. completed the program. Read more about the study trip of the CEM PhD students to Freiburg in the pdf file linked below.

PhD Defense M. Golomingi

Murielle Koni-Kepo Golomingi student at the PhD program Cutting Edge Microscopy (CEM) under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Verena Schröder, will give her PhD Defense on March 15, 2023 at 14.00 at the ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research.
Title: “Interactions between the complement system and blood coagulation: a potential role of complement components and activation during haemostasis"

Haemostasis is a crucial process by which the body stops bleeding. It is achieved by the formation of a platelet plug, which is strengthened by the formation of a fibrin mech through the coagulation cascade. In case of pathological clotting, for instance in arterial thrombosis, the interactions of the complement system and the coagulation cascades is known to aggravate the development of the pathology. Whether those interactions play a relevant role during non-pathological haemostasis is however not yet completely understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential role of complement components and activation during haemostasis.

Muldimodal Imaging

On February 2, 2023 the AGORA Cancer Research Center invites you to the workshop titled "Multimodal Imaging in life sciences and cancer research". Keynote speaker is Ralph Weissleder, Harvard/ MGH, USA. More details and registration on the pdf below. 

SNSF Scientific Image Competition

Get your cameras and give Swiss research a face!
The SNSF Scientific Image Competition encourages researchers working in Switzerland to present their works to the public and the media. Photographs, images and videos will be rated in terms of their aesthetic quality and their ability to inspire and amaze, to convey or illustrate knowledge, to tell a human story or to let us discover a new universe.
Submission deadline is January 31, 2022. Learn mor here.

First protocol for Monitoring the point spread function

MIC congratulates Dr. Yury Belyaev on his co-authorship in a new publication on the use of the point spread function for quality control of confocal microscopes. The paper can be downloaded here.

Benchtop High-Speed Confocal Microscope

Yury Belyaev (MIC) and Fabian Blank (DBMR) invite you to this demonstration event organized  in collaboration with Witec AG. More details and registration on the flyer below.

Swiss Microscopy Core Facility Day 2022

The 10^th Swiss Microscopy Core Facility Day took place this year on September 15 - 16, 2022 and was organised by Pascal Lorentz from the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel. To celebrate the 10^th anniversary, this normally one-day event, was organised as a two-day retreat in Engelberg. About 60 members of Swiss microscopy facilities and representative of different microscopy companies convened for informative presentations and intensive discussion on questions related to various aspects of microscopy faculty operation.  The focus of this year’s meeting was the well-being of the facility staff.

On the first day, the leading microscopy companies shared their experiences in supporting good working atmosphere among employees. Additionally, Christel Genoud from the University of Lausanne presented the results of a facility survey on the working conditions of microscopy facility employees. On the second day, after Zeiss’ presentation of Zeiss on the latest developments in artificial intelligence (AI) software and Evident’s brief overview of corporate wellbeing issues, the participants were able to participate in variouse workshops. All workshops were led by professional coaches and gave an insight into modern psychological methods tackling questions of mental health, self-reflection and conflict management.

As usual, the meeting offered many opportunities for networking and exchange of experiences during its social program. Yury Belyaev represented the Microscopy Imaging Center (MIC) at this meeting. Next year the Swiss Core Facility Day will take place at ETH Zurich organised by ScopeM.

MIC at "Nacht der Forschung 2022"

The Nacht der Forschung at the University of Bern took place on September 10, 2022. The room of the microscopy imaging center (MIC), UniS A015, was decorated with various posters about the MIC and about microscopy at our University. Activities included "Microscopy for everyone" on 6 teaching microscopes and an excursion into virtual reality, which beamed the guest into the brain of a mouse or into a fish head. In room A-126 of UniS, microscopists offered lectures on exciting topics. A total of around 30 helpers from the MIC committee, friends of the MIC and students of the PhD program Cutting Edge Microscopy headed by Fabian Blank, Ruslan Hlushchuk and Ruth Lyck were on duty in 3 shifts from 4:00 p.m. to midnight. Further activities of MIC committee members were offered in the University’s main building by Stefan Tschanz and Benoît Zuber on behalf of the Institute of Anatomy. All activities were eagerly attended. Interested conversations and happy children's faces testified to the success of our offers. The MIC team says a big "THANK YOU" to all the helpers, without whom the MIC activities would not have been possible.