The annual meeting of the European Light Microscopy Initiative (ELMI) took place in Coimbra, Portugal, from June 16-19th, 2026. With nearly 600 in person attendees, ELMI brought together imaging core facility staff, researchers and industry partners to explore the state-of-the-art in imaging approaches, methods and instrumentation. As such, the ELMI conference is a high point for the Euro-BioImaging community, bringing together Node staff, EBIB members, scientific ambassadors and more. This year’s edition was no exception. Organised by PPBI, our Portuguese Node, the programme provided a reflection and a perspective on the field of light microscopy from many different angles via plenary talks, community workshops and industry workshops. In addition, ELMI was an excellent opportunity to network. We met an amazing number of researchers, core facility staff and industry partners at our booth. Below we feature some highlights from this fantastic meeting.
Each year, ELMI starts off with a core facility day, where core facility experts can exchange best practices, share challenges and explore new workflows and imaging technologies. This year’s Core Facility Day stood out for its strong focus on technology. Paolo Bianchini, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italian ALM Node, opened the day with a talk on “Label-free multiscale imaging: from FLIM-ISM to polarisation-based contrast,” followed by a presentation from Gabor Steinbach, HUN-REN BRC Szeged, Cellular Imaging Hungary Node, on “Differential polarisation imaging attachment on re-scan confocal microscope”, who highlighted not just technology development but also how core facilities are important sites for innovation training for young researchers. The core facility day also included a new session on AI tools for core facilities, including AI tools for image analysis from the AI4Life project as well as tools that make user support and scheduling easier for core facilities.
The Core Facility Day also included the launch of the new Journal of Microscopy Special Edition on “Light Microscopy Core Facility Management,” (Links to the 2024 edition & 2026 edition) presented by the editors of the Special Edition Kurt Anderson (UK Node), Sebastian Munck (Flanders BioImaging Node), and Michelle Itano.
The conference program was divided into six main sessions - featuring talks from both senior experts as well as early career researchers and PhD students. Topics covered nanoscopy, label-free imaging, smart probes and labels, and volumetric imaging to name a few. Overall, the plenary talks provided a reflection and a perspective on the field of light microscopy from many different angles such as optics, labeling, as well as AI and image analysis. Edna Xian Hu, NorMIC Node, delivered an excellent talk sharing the extended focus method she has developed and implemented at the NorMIC Node to improve live cell imaging (read the back story here) and the impact the Euro-BioImaging EVOLVE training program has had in enabling her to disseminate this innovation and push its broader adoption across the community.
Other Node talks included Thomas Chaigne, of the Fresnel Institute, Marseille, France BioImaging, with a talk on “Photoacoustics for non-invasive deep-tissue neuroimaging” and Chiara Stringari, Ecole Polytechnique, France BioImaging, on “Label-free optical metabolic imaging across scales.” Johanna Bischof, Head of Bio-Hub Operations, delivered an overview of Euro-BioImaging opportunities for Node staff, researchers and the community.
The programme included two poster sessions, highlighting new trends in imaging as well as applications of imaging approaches, data management solutions, and core facility developments. A number of our Nodes shared updates at their facility in the poster session, highlighting custom configurations for imaging XXL samples (IOF ISTA, Austrian BioImaging/CMI), or new approaches for plant imaging (Institute of Experimental Botany, Prague Node). The Euro-BioImaging Hub also presented two posters to highlight some of the accomplishments made possible by the EC-funded EVOLVE project - (Grant Agreement: 101130986) (Training, Job Shadowing, Mentoring, and Scientific Ambassadors), and a third poster highlighted technology updates from the IMAGINE project (Grant Agreement: 101094250). Our Scientific Ambassador, Bruno Stojcic, presented a poster on his PhD work, “Na,K- ATPase clustering on the plasma membrane resolved by 3D DNA-PAINT MINFLUX and data-driven point cloud separation.” The Global BIoImaging team also presented posters on Imaging 4 All and the Global BioImaging community.
On top of the plenary sessions, ELMI provides many opportunities for hands’ on learning. This year’s programme included six time slots for interactive workshops, product demonstrations, and in-depth technical updates. In addition to the traditional company workshops, the programme included Community TELLMI workshops, two of which were organised/co-organised by Euro-BioImaging Hub team members. Image data specialist Bugra Oezdemir ran a workshop entitled, “Getting started with the cloud native data format OME-Zarr,” which introduced the OME‑Zarr, a next‑generation file format that enables efficient access to large bioimaging datasets and explored some useful tools for the broader OME‑Zarr ecosystem. Daniela Aviles Huerta contributed to a workshop with Davide Accardi and Mariana Carvalho, entitled “Beyond Metrics: Evaluating, Communicating and Strengthening the Impact of Core Facilities. ” A central component of the workshop was the introduction and refinement of a practical evaluation flowchart designed to support internal facility assessment and decision-making.
Over 60 companies were present at ELMI this year, from microscope manufacturers to data solution companies to lab consumable manufacturers. The interactions with industry make the ELMI conference very special. Aside from the company workshops, many companies had booths to demo or explain their products. It was great to see many members of our Industry Board there. We enjoyed talking to many company colleagues to learn about their products and share opportunities from Euro-BioImaging.
The Euro-BioImaging booth was buzzing with visits. We were delighted to speak with staff from many Euro-BioImaging Nodes, Global BioImaging colleagues, company representatives, PhD students, two scientific ambassadors (Estibaliz Gómez de Mariscal and Bruno Stojcic), conference organisers and more. Thanks for the lively discussions, the great questions and ideas. We hope to see many of you again soon!
Many thanks to the Portuguese Platform of BioImaging (PPBI) organising team (Portuguese Node of Euro-BioImaging) and everyone working in the background for making the conference so special!
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