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Dear list
I fully agree that the ELMI, Eurobioimaging and all the network opportunities that exist at a country or continent level are fantastic and I strongly recommend sending facility staff for job shadowing to learn alternative ways to manage facilities.
However for staff of a small facility who feel that external input would be useful more than once per year, it can be a little difficult to know where to get practical help when a problem shows up.
Inspired by our Singaporean colleagues, we have found an easy way to start a local network: we contacted all other imaging facilities in the Stockholm/Uppsala region and suggested we should meet every second month for 2h.
All the facilities take turn in hosting the meeting. This allows everyone to be aware of the type of equipment the others have, see what they do when they want to upgrade, what type of imaging their users do...
Each host decides on the format, some like it very informal and some have it very structured with agenda and presentation. Missing a meeting is not a big deal as we often share some notes and there is another meeting soon after.
Taking turn means that there is no heavy organization for just one facility. It only takes sending a Doodle to find a date that works for most, booking a room then sending an email to confirm date and venue. And of course buying 'fika' (coffee bread) because we are in Sweden so we love our fika!! :-D
All one needs is a shared cloud storage (Dropbox style) with the shared mailing list that is updated as each facility adds new people. Our list of participants has only grown from 15 to 33 facility staff since we started, just one year ago.
We talk about very practical things, from funding to should we be listed authors on papers or not, how we deal with all the data, sharing teaching/training resources... Meeting regularly means that you know exactly who might be able to help you solve that problem that just popped up at your facility. Inviting everyone for a particularly interesting seminar is no hassle with a ready-to-use mailing list.
I personally find global/national networks very inspiring and local networks super useful! :)
Just thought I would share with you all.
Med vänlig hälsning / Best regards
Sylvie
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Sylvie Le Guyader, PhD
Live Cell Imaging Facility Manager
Karolinska Institutet- Bionut Dpt
Hälsovägen 7,
Novum, G lift, floor 6
14157 Huddinge
Sweden
mobile: +46 (0) 73 733 5008
office: +46 (0) 8 524 811 72
LCI website
-----Original Message-----
From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of WHEELER Ann
Sent: den 1 november 2017 20:41
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Janelia conference for imaging cores - some pointers
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Kate:
I would echo what Alison says, putting together the UKBioimaging network has been no small task. We're definitely not as well documented as our colleagues in Germany. However the UK funding network has undergone a sea-change in the past decade. Our funders are now looking for value for money in equipment grants, and seeking evidence they would benefit many projects and the resources will have an impact regionally, nationally as well as locally.
While I won't understate the amount of work a dedicated group of us (many of which were also committed ELMI attendees and EuroBioimaging-philes) put in I would say interms of continuation of funding, particularly for our more high cost imaging technologies, of it has been a well worthwhile exercise for us. Furthermore our BioImaging UK facility database, now kindly hosted by the RMS https://www.rms.org.uk/network-collaborate/facilities-database.html has been an invaluable resource. It enables us to quickly and easily identify niche technologies and specific expertise - the list has made our facility agile which has been welcomed.
I often send my staff to other cores to learn and we host visits as well. This is beneficial to all. The German BioImaging have a more formal process for this which certainly has advantages. Since European countries are relatively nearby we've also been to visit colleagues from ELMI as well.
The UK network is staffed by a group of volunteers, we have an annual meeting which is free for facility staff to attend - kindly supported by our industrial partners. We discuss matters which have been raised by others earlier on the thread. Uk Imaging facilities can be very variable - some are large and host several technologies and skilled staff scientists. Others are smaller affairs - depending on research need of the institute. Best practise in the UK would mean meeting and supporting research need and this can look different. But sharing experiences and ideas is invaluable for all.
This sounds like an interesting opportunity for the US!
Best
Ann
Dr Ann Wheeler
Head of IGMM Advanced Imaging Resource
IGMM, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK
________________________________
From: Confocal Microscopy List <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Roland Nitschke <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 01 November 2017 18:34:51
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Janelia conference for imaging cores - some pointers
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The German BioImaging Network is one of those Europian national networks mentioned by Alison.
You can find extensive information about us here:
http://www.germanbioimaging.org
We have published in 2016 an open access paper about: Advanced light microscopy core facilities: Balancing service, science and career , which covers many of the important aspects raised before by others.
You can download the paper at:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jemt.22648/abstract
I am one of the founders and coordinators of this German network and Elisa Ferrando-May is an invited speaker at the Janelia meeting.
I might also come over to the meeting if I manage to put together an attractive abstract about the local trinational imaging network
(https://www.miap.eu) that I have set-up here in Freiburg.
Thanks Alison also to mention the ELMI meeting, which is clearly a great place for exchange beetween core facilities in Europe.
All the best
Roland
___________________________
Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg
Microscopy and Image Analysis Platform (MIAP) Life Imaging Center (LIC) in ZBSA Dr. Roland Nitschke
Habsburgerstr.49
D-79104 Freiburg
Germany
___________________________
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
phone: 49-761-2032934 or 2902
fax: 49-761-2032941
https://miap.eu/miap-units/life-imaging-center-lic/
Am 01.11.2017 um 19:12 schrieb Alison North:
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>
> Dear Kate,
>
> I think you have raised a number of excellent suggestions here.
> Regarding your last one in particular, I feel the need to point out
> that we in the USA are WAY behind many other countries in the area of
> networking, particularly when it comes to sharing equipment. I don't
> know whether you are familiar with the Euro-BioImaging project:
>
> http://www.eurobioimaging.eu/
>
> but this is a very interesting and laudable attempt to solve exactly
> the problem you refer to in accessing uncommon equipment. Many of the
> European countries (also, I believe, Australia) have also established
> their own country-wide networks, long before the Euro-BioImaging
> network was established. These matters are discussed every year at
> the wonderful ELMI meeting (European Light Microscopy Initiative),
> which, in my opinion, is the most useful meeting out there for
> microscopy facility managers. (Also jolly good fun and held in a
> fantastic location every year - thank you ELMI meeting organisers past
> and present!) Personally, I would like to see a similar network
> established in the USA, but the sheer enormity of this task is rather
> daunting. Maybe we could first approach it on a state or regional
> level? This is certainly something worth discussing.
>
> All the best,
> Alison
>
>
> On 11/1/2017 2:00 PM, Kate Luby-Phelps wrote:
>> *****
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>> *****
>>
>> I had not really thought much about networking with other core
>> facilities until I saw the announcement of the conference. For me,
>> the confocal listserv essentially fills this niche as we get to pick
>> each others' brains. However, in thinking about it more, it seems to
>> me there are several ways in which a formal networking effort might
>> be helpful: 1) Since all cores large and small will share some of the
>> same challenges, perhaps identification of these areas and formation
>> of focused subnetworks or topical working groups could be useful. For
>> example, I have made some stabs at solving the need for deconvolution
>> of large volumes from slide scanners and tiled confocal z stacks but
>> have not had the time or the resources to pursue this to an endpoint.
>> If others are in the same boat, perhaps we each have different pieces
>> of the puzzle and sharing them could speed up the process of
>> eliminating what doesn't work or at least defining what the
>> roadblocks are and then having group members take on well-defined,
>> manageable tasks to try to move things forward for everyone. As
>> already mentioned, another example of a challenge we all face is
>> finding money to replace aging instrumentation and to acquire cutting
>> edge technology. Here a network for mentoring people who want to
>> apply for S10 grants could be helpful. A third possibility is a
>> network that could serve as a consortium for sharing of resources.
>> For software, this is not too difficult, as witnessed by the success
>> of ImageJ/FiJi and CellProfiler. Would it be possible to facilitate
>> access to instrumentation as well? For example, if I have an
>> occasional need for STED but do not own one and do not have a large
>> enough user group to apply for an S10, can I locate a facility that
>> has it and somehow arrange to have my sample viewed? I realize this
>> idea raises all kinds of logistical issues, including recharge costs,
>> travel costs, shipping of samples, etc., but perhaps its feasibility
>> is worth discussing.
>>
>> A conference that attempts to promote and formalize these types of
>> interactions would be worth attending.
>>
>> Kate Luby-Phelps
>> Director, Live Cell Imaging Facility and Electron Microscopy Core
>> Facility UT Southwestern Medical Center Dallas, TX
>
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