Overview

The EMBL Imaging Centre User Symposium will take place on Thursday 17th and Friday 18th October 2024, at EMBL Heidelberg, Germany, and will bring together the user community of the EMBL Imaging Centre. 

The IC user symposium is covering a broad range of imaging technologies from cryo-electron and super-resolution microscopy to organismal and intravital imaging.

Invited and selected speakers have already used the facility and will present their research during the symposium. We aim to stimulate the exchange of experience among users and strengthen collaborations and interactions within the imaging community in general. 

Besides the invited speakers, all participants are welcome to present their research during the poster or flash-talk session. The meeting will be rounded out with a discussion and feedback session.  

Speakers

Lorenzo Albertazzi

Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands

Johan Decelle

Grenoble Alpes University, France

Mikhail Eltsov

IGBMC, France

Danny Ionescu

IGB Berlin, Germany

Arjen Jakobi

Delft University of Technology, Netherlands

Simone Köhler

EMBL, Germany

Lena Kutscher

DKFZ, Germany

Mattia Morandi

IOCB, Czech Rep.

Albert Weixlbaumer

IGBMC, France

Giulia Zanetti

Birkbeck University of London, UK

Programme

Practical info

Address: EMBL, Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany. For further information on getting to EMBL Heidelberg visit Public Transportation to the Venue. For information about accommodation and local transportation please refer to the FAQ page.

Sponsors

Industry Workshops

Zeiss: Dynamics in Life: Analyse large 4D datasets seamlessly with ZEISS arivis Cloud

Understanding dynamic behaviour is vital to gaining insights into biological processes. Across all scales, dynamics provide a crucial insight, from movement of organisms, organs or cells, developmental changes in organisms or tissues to cell-cell interactions and intracellular molecular behaviour which one often cannot observe due to phototoxicity, slow acquisitions or too complicated software. ZEISS offers a wide range of systems & software to observe & analyse samples with minimal light exposure at high speed down to molecular resolution.

Get ready to dive into the exciting world of light sheet microscopy and image analysis with ZEISS! Join us for an upcoming workshop where we’ll demonstrate the incredible power of Deep Learning (DL) in segmenting light sheet image data.

In the field of microscopy, image segmentation is a crucial step in image analysis, and traditional methods can be time-consuming and require manual intervention. But with deep learning, we can simplify and automate the segmentation process, making it faster, more efficient than ever before and allow you to do research that was previously not possible!

During this workshop, we’ll explore a fascinating case study of C. elegans embryo development, where researchers leveraged the superior performance of ZEISS arivis Cloud platform to develop DL networks that could be executed in the true 3D environment of ZEISS arivis Pro. This allowed them to segment and track cell division in a C. elegans embryo during the very early stages of development.

Leica: With the user, for the user – Leica Labs at the EMBL Imaging Centre supporting IC users and driving innovation in visualization and analysis

Leica Microsystems has always developed close relationships with academic and scientific research institutions to advance scientific understanding through microscopy. The partnership with the EMBL Imaging Centre is a prime example of our mission to drive innovation in visualization and analysis through partnering with users. Now, thanks to our unique partnership with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, researchers can gain access to cutting edge sample preparation, widefield and confocal imaging, and image analysis technology. 

Location is key to understanding biological mechanisms, from the inner workings of subcellular components to how cells form and interact across normal and diseased tissues. Microscopy enables researchers to look at the bigger picture and track proteins and other biomarkers at a single cell level to better understand the whole tissue landscape. In this workshop, we will give you an overview of the Leica Microsystems solutions available at the EMBL Imaging Centre and how they can help to advance your research.

Among the advanced solutions that we will highlight in more detail UC Enuity, a cutting-edge ultramicrotome capable of fluorescent and 3D targeting that was developed in collaboration with the EMBL. With a high degree of automation, it enables automatic sample alignment and trimming. It helps and guides the user through tedious tasks in ultramicrotomy thus simplifying the process of sample preparation and making ultramicrotomy more accessible.

Sample preparation for downstream molecular biology analysis is enabled by isolating regions of interest (ROI) from entire areas of tissue down to single cells or even subcellular structures such as chromosomes by laser microdissection (LMD) with the LMD7. With the help of Aivia, our image visualization, analysis and interpretation platform, regions of interest (ROI) which are destined for laser microdissection (LMD) can be detected and imported directly into the LMD software for microdissection. This workflow saves time and results in more robust statistics thanks to high throughput and automation.

In addition, we will elaborate on the experimental design and considerations to perform high multiplexing imaging experiments beyond 10 fluorophores on a single sample on the STELLARIS confocal platform. STELLARIS is particularly well suited for high multiplexing strategies as it combines a freely tunable white light laser (WLL | 440nm -790 nm) excitation with up to 5 highly sensitive spectral detectors for complete flexibility of detection from 410 nm up to the NIR range. This unique combination allows to fit a large palette of fluorophores and to optimize any possible combination. We will discuss appropriate fluorophore panels and the details of sample preparation. Furthermore, we will cover the challenges and tools required for imaging. Finally, we will showcase how advanced image analysis tools can be used to harness the insights from high multiplexing imaging results accurately segmenting cells so you can spend less time on analyzing data and more time on the biology via AI-driven spatial insights.

Adjacent to the symposium schedule, you are welcome to schedule demonstrations of the highlighted products.