Training as a core mission to spread expertise across Europe

One of the core missions of the EMBL Imaging Centre is to provide training to scientists in general, imaging facility staff and our users.

Training can cover different imaging technologies and their biological applications and parts or the full experimental cycle, from sample preparation via the actual imaging process to image analysis.

We furthermore offer training focused on new imaging technologies and service workflows, together with researchers at EMBL and our industrial partners.

Courses and Workshops

With our courses and workshops we are extending EMBL’s outstanding existing course and conference programme in the area of imaging technologies.

• Courses and workshops range from sample preparation, via the imaging process itself to image analysis.
• Courses cover imaging technologies and various topics in life sciences applying or developing imaging technologies.
• Regular user meetings are bringing together the EMBL IC community and the wider imaging community.
• Dedicated hands-on workshops and summer schools for a small group of people are providing a deep insight and practical training on different expertise levels.

Train-the-trainers: Facility staff training and job shadowing

To serve a  broad user community beyond those that can carry out their experiments at the EMBL IC, we are providing dedicated training for international facility expert staff and imaging scientists in courses as well as during job shadowing visits to get hands-on, in-depth experience on our technologies and workflows. We also engage in exchange of experience activities related to imaging facility management matters.

We want to accelerate the use of:

• Newly developed sample preparation workflows
• Services applying new imaging technologies and custom-built instrumentation
• Services applying multiple technologies in a correlative manner

The IC is working closely together with the Global BioImaging initiative, an international network of imaging infrastructures and communities that brings together imaging facility operators and technical staff, scientists, managers and science policy officers from around the globe, to network, exchange experiences and build capacity internationally.

Individual user training

Training of individual users beyond workshops and courses is an integral part of every project-related visit to the EMBL IC. The topic and level of training in closely aligned with the user’s needs.

It can covers the entire experimental workflow from sample preparation techniques, and microscope handling to image analysis, or only aspects of that.

EMBO Scientific Exchange Grants fund research exchanges of up to three months between laboratories in EMBC Member States, EMBC/EMBO global partners (Chile, India, Singapore, Taiwan). The grants facilitate collaborations with research groups with expertise, techniques, or infrastructure that is unavailable in the applicant’s laboratory. They cover travel and subsistence costs of the fellow.