Highlights from the Galaxy Image Analysis Hackathon 2025

In April 2025, imaging researchers, tool developers, and data scientists came together for the Galaxy Imaging Hackathon, a four-day sprint dedicated to advancing FAIR and cross-domain image analysis workflows.

Hosted by the European Galaxy team and supported by Euro-BioImaging and the new project OSCARS FIESTA, the hackathon brought over participants to work side-by-side at the Freiburg Galaxy headquarters and online.

What came out of it?

• A new Brightfield Microscopy workflow, tailored to Masson Trichrome and IHC images, was successfully completed.
• The Bellavista visualiser was integrated into Galaxy, bringing spatial transcriptomics data to life.
• A brand-new tutorial on parameter tuning and segmentation evaluation was finalized, helping users benchmark and optimize image analysis results.
• A format compatibility investigation tested tools across diverse image types, leading to improvements like standardizing .TIFF vs .TIF extensions and restoring the GitHub link on imaging.usegalaxy.eu.
• The team expanded and promoted training resources: a feature article highlighted the BMZ microscopy tutorial, and a draft “Where to Start” tutorial began taking shape to guide new users through Galaxy's imaging tools.

Read the full wrap-up on the Galaxy Project website.
Want to follow the ongoing work? Join the FAIR Image Data Workflows Expert Group and be part of the conversation.