Euro-BioImaging attends the BNMI Symposium in Gothenburg

Euro-BioImaging was delighted to attend the BNMI 2025 Symposium from August 19-22 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Hosted by the Centre for Cellular Imaging at the University of Gothenburg, part of our Swedish NMI Node, this event aimed to bring together core facility staff, industry representatives, and researchers to support the development of world-leading advanced microscopy environments across the Nordic region. Euro-BioImaging Node staff and Hub team members attended the event, contributing to the scientific programme, and our Scientific Ambassador, Bruno Stojcic, KTH Royal Institute of Technology/ SciLifeLab, was also present, helping to spread the word about Euro-BioImaging. 

Spotlight on Smart Microscopy

The conference kicked off with technical pre-symposium workshops on Smart Microscopy and Tissue Clearing for Light Sheet Microscopy, as well as a train-the-trainer workshop.

One of the rapidly developing microscopy trends is Smart Microscopy, which refers to microscopes that can perform real-time analysis and adjust their imaging parameters based on feedback from the acquired images, without human intervention. The specific workshop dedicated to the topic was organised by Rafael Camacho, a leading member of the Smart Microscopy Working Group (SMWG), and colleagues at CCI. The Smart Microscopy Working Group was born from an initiative by Claudia Pfander, Euro-BioImaging Industry Board coordinator, to discuss and work on standard specifications, functionalities, and workflows for Adaptive Feedback or ‘Smart’ Microscopy in collaboration between imaging facilities and companies. Claudia was delighted to attend the pre-symposium and present the SMWG during the poster session on August 20th. 

Developments in the smart microscopy field were explored as the plenary programme included presentations from a number of SMWG members, including Lucien Hinderling (Uni Bern), Hannah Heil (U Lund), and Benedict Diederich (IPT). The group recently published a paper on bioRxiv, exploring the current state of smart microscopy and making recommendations to unlock the full potential of smart microscopy for life sciences research! 

Exploring Artificial Intelligence and Imaging across scales

Another important topic at the Symposium was Exploring Emerging Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence for Microscopy: An Overview of Trends and Innovations. An insightful panel discussion moderated by Giovanni Volpe with AI experts Ivo Sbalzarini and Artur Yakimovich captured the audience and shed light on the chances and risks of AI to transform the way we approach imaging and science in general.

Imaging across scales was also central to the programme.  Speakers from multiple countries explored the technologies, tools and techniques that make it possible to perform correlated multimodal imaging of whole organisms and make sense out of the complex data.

"Getting an opportunity to attend such a nice meeting that is very much aligned with my research was rewarding!” says Euro-BioImaging Scientific Ambassador Bruno Stojcic. "The topics over the three conference days were biologically so diverse, and yet all managed to anchor themselves in the realm of biomedical imaging. I truly enjoyed the opportunity to discuss my science with other early-career researchers in the field, and getting to meet and interact with Euro Bioimaging staff was certainly one of the highlights as I delve into the Scientific Ambassador Program!" 

Industry collaboration 

Industry collaboration was a strong theme at the symposium, with one of the sessions of the core facility day dedicated to engagement with industry. Euro-BioImaging Industry Board (EBIB) Coordinator Claudia Pfander gave the introductory presentation at the session, and co-moderated two panels of industry representatives alongside Julia Fernandez-Rodriguez, Head of the Centre for Cellular Imaging (CCI Gothenburg). A number of members of the EBIB (Thermo Fisher, EVIDENT, Hamamatsu, ZEISS, Oxford Instruments, and national representatives of Leica and Nikon) participated in the panel discussion.

Finally, Claudia Pfander had a presentation in the plenary entitled "Euro-BioImaging - another kind of “smart” microscopy," explaining why it is “smart” to make use of the many opportunities at Euro-Bioimaging, from access funding to training to collaboration with industry.

Many thanks to the hosts and organisers for a dynamic conference that brings together the Nordic imaging community and beyond!