Euro-BioImaging featured in an iScience Backstory

How does Euro-BioImaging bring together scientists and imaging facilities to support interdisciplinary research? Why was it launched? What are the challenges? The successes? The future perspectives? These are just some of the questions that are addressed in our Backstory article in iScience entitled “Euro-BioImaging – Interdisciplinary research infrastructure bringing together communities and imaging facilities to support excellent research” part of a Special Issue on “Light for Life: Multiscale optical biology and techniques” published in February 2022.

This article features testimonies from Julia Rodriguez-Fernandez, Head of the Center for Cellular Imaging Core Facility of the University of Gothenburg, and Marc van Zandvoort, Maastricht University, Co-Chairs of the Euro-BioImaging Panel of Nodes, on some of the challenges - but also the successes - of being a Euro-BioImaging Node. It also tells the stories of Euro-BioImaging users Roberta Ranieri and Marcos Lopez-Gonzalez, explaining how open access to imaging technologies and expertise enhanced not only their complex, interdisciplinary research projects but also their careers.   

In addition, the article outlines some of the opportunities Euro-BioImaging provides to the community to learn from each other and address common challenges, such as our Expert Groups. The article tells the story of how and why our infrastructure was launched, and how we are at the heart of a large community that includes researchers from both academia and industry, Master’s and PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, core facility staff, and imaging manufacturers, with the common goal of democratizing access to imaging services and fostering collaborations that lead to excellent science.   

We invite you to read the Backstory but also to encourage you to enjoy the entire Special Issue of iScience.  We are grateful to all of those who contributed to this article.

Read our article in iScience: