The 2024 BIST Symposium on Microscopy, Nanoscopy and Imaging Sciences took place at ICFO last Friday, showcasing presentations by eight invited experts from European institutions.
The 2024 BIST Symposium on Microscopy, Nanoscopy and Imagining Sciences took place in the ICFO Auditorium last Friday, bringing together international experts and members of the BIST Community. The event included a series of talks and discussions on new advances and techniques in electron microscopy, optical microscopy and its use in nanoscale cell biology, new insights from deep learning, and use of AI in imaging, among others. BIST Master’s students also had the opportunity to present their research at the symposium, as the event is part of the BIST Master’s curriculum.
The four morning talks focused on electron microscopy and discussed some of the latest advances and applications for this technique. Gabriel Sanchez-Santolino (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) and Sara Bals (University of Antwerp) discussed new developments and uses of transmission electron microscopy, while Cristina Africh (CNR-IOM) discussed combining state-of-the-art microscopy techniques to design and characterise innovative synthesis protocols for 2D materials. The morning finished with Ismael Diez Perez from King’s College London talking participants through the chemistry of single-molecule circuits.
In the afternoon, Mike Heilemann (University of Frankfurt) and Alessandra Cambi (University Radboud) discussed imaging in nano-scale cell biology, while Carlo Manzo (Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya) presented on new insights from deep learning. Finally, Estibaliz Gomez de Mariscal from Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência presented on the use of artificial intelligence in microscopy imaging.
An opportunity for BIST Master’s students to share their research
The symposium is part of the curriculum of the BIST Master of Multidisciplinary Research in Experimental Sciences. It is the final event of the BIST Master’s Winter School on Microscopy, Nanoscopy, and Imaging Sciences, a two-week training event coordinated by ICREA research professors Maria García Parajo (ICFO) and Jordi Arbiol (ICN2). The symposium gives BIST Master’s students the opportunity to present their research to the community, get valuable feedback on their work, and make important new contacts. The students’ poster presentations were evaluated by a panel, which then awarded the top three posters. A fourth awardee was chosen by the public. This year’s winners are:
Elia López, supervised by Xavier Trepat at IBEC (1st Place)
Iphigénie Goux, supervised by Núria Montserrat at IBEC (2nd Place)
Mohmed Abdalfttah, supervised by Eduard Batlle at IRB Barcelona (2nd Place)
Asli Ceren Simsek, supervised by Elvan Böke at CRG (Public’s Choice)
The symposium is an important event for master’s students as it is often the first time they present their work in such a setting, and provides invaluable opportunities to learn about cutting-edge techniques and meet researchers with many different backgrounds. In this occasion, the students were also involved in introducing the speakers in the oral sessions.
The 2024 BIST Symposium on Microscopy, Nanoscopy and Imaging Sciences is organised in collaboration with ICFO and ICN2, and sponsored in part by the Sociedad de Microscopia de España, the European Microscopy Society, and ThermoFisher Scientific.
