September 2011 - FILM-Users

[FILM-Users 00117] Fwd: Euro-BioImaging Proof-of-Concept Studies: Open Call for Users
by Martin Spitaler 30 Sep '11

30 Sep '11

Dear microscopists, I'm forwarding you this message, which offers a quite unique opportunity to get access to a large range of leading- edge microscopy techniques, from superresolution to high-throughput, single molecules to medical imaging - for free! All you have to do is submit an application with a project description. You might even be able to get a travelling grant! The purpose of the exercise is to test the idea of 'nodes' for specialised areas on microscopy as part of the Eurobioimaging initiative. An opportunity to participate early on not to be missed. Obviously we in FILM are happy to advice on specific projects and help with any application, or participate if wanted. Good luck, and good imaging, Martin -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Euro-BioImaging Proof-of-Concept Studies: Open Call for Users Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:32:21 +0200 From: EIBIR Office <office(a)eibir.org> Reply-To: <office(a)eibir.org> To: <m.spitaler(a)imperial.ac.uk> Dear Martin Spitaler, From January to July 2012 the large-scale pan-European research infrastructure project *Euro**-**BioImaging*conducts a *series of proof-of-concept studies* and therefore offers FREE access to advanced biological and biomedical imaging facilities across Europe. The proof-of-concept studies will be a key pillar for the development of eligibility criteria for future Euro-BioImaging nodes and specifically aim to ·provide the opportunity for scientists to conduct their research project using cutting edge imaging instruments ·test and refine standardized execution and access protocols for future Euro-BioImaging facilities ·assess potential pitfalls for running these resources ·identify current community needs for access to different imaging technologies Many European imaging facilities will serve as Euro-BioImaging proof-of-concept study sites and will offer free access to a wide range of cutting edge imaging technologies. The *registration for users* has recently opened and we invite you and applicants from all over Europe to submit your research project proposals. Please forward this message to colleagues and friends, who are potentially interested to participate as users in the Euro-BioImaging proof-of-concept studies. Detailed information on the proof-of-concept studies and proposal submission are provided at www.eurobioimaging.eu <http://www.eurobioimaging.eu>. We are looking forward to your active participation in this important stage of the Euro-BioImaging project and remain with best wishes, Jan Ellenberg and Stefan Schönberg Scientific Coordinators of Euro-BioImaging /sent by the project office/

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[FILM-Users 00114] FILM Club this Friday
by Martin Spitaler 30 Sep '11

30 Sep '11

Dear microscopists, it's time to get our FILM Club back up and running after the summer break. We'll start the year with a meeting report by Mark and myself on the recent FOM and ELMI meetings, about some of the latest developments in light microscopy. The FILM Club will be this coming Friday, 30 October 2011, 13.00, seminar room SAFB-120. For those of you new to the facility - the FILM Club is our user forum, where microscopists meet on the last Friday, and someone presents some interesting microscopy work they are doing in a very informal way. The idea is to exchange ideas and experience related to microscopy, bring microscopists together, stimulate interactions. And volunteers are needed for the coming months, please come forward with all your exciting projects, no results are wanted, just talking about your work. See you there, good imaging, Martin -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Martin Spitaler, PhD* *FILM - Facility for Imaging by Light Microscopy* - Facility Manager - Sir Alexander Fleming Building, desk 401 Imperial College London / South Kensington Exhibition Road London SW7 2AZ UK Tel. +44-(0)20-759-42023 E-mail m.spitaler(a)imperial.ac.uk <mailto:m.spitaler@imperial.ac.uk> Website: http://imperial.ac.uk/imagingfacility

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[FILM-Users 00113] Fwd: Fwd: Group Leader Position at EMBL
by Martin Spitaler 21 Sep '11

21 Sep '11

...forwarded for your information; MailMan doesn't like attachments, but anyone feeling like stepping into the footsteps of Stefan Hell can find the offer at <http://www.embl.de/aboutus/jobs/searchjobs/index.php?newlang=1&newms=sr&sea…>, Martin -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Fwd: Group Leader Position at EMBL Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:26:58 +0100 From: Jason Swedlow <jason(a)LIFESCI.DUNDEE.AC.UK> Reply-To: Jason Swedlow <jason(a)LIFESCI.DUNDEE.AC.UK> To: <UK-EUROBIOIMAGING-PROJECT(a)JISCMAIL.AC.UK> Begin forwarded message: > *From: *Jan Ellenberg <ellenberg(a)embl.de <mailto:ellenberg@embl.de>> > *Date: *16 September 2011 12:46:29 GMT+01:00 > *To: *Jason <jason(a)lifesci.dundee.ac.uk > <mailto:jason@lifesci.dundee.ac.uk>> > *Subject: **Group Leader Position at EMBL* > > Dear Jason, > > I would like to draw your attention to two openings for a group or > team leader position in the Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit at EMBL, > Heidelberg, as recently advertised in Nature and Science. > > We are looking for an outstanding junior scientist ready to become > independent in the *development of advanced light microscopy methods*. > > EMBL provides a unique international, interdisciplinary and highly > collaborative research environment. We generally hire group leaders > early in their careers, often after their first postdoc and sometimes > immediately after their PhD, and provide generous support for their > first independent position. In return, we expect them to set ambitious > and original scientific goals for their research. > > I would very much appreciate if you could bring the attached vacancy > notice to the attention of suitable candidates. > > I appreciate your help, > > All the best, > > Jan > > > -- UK-EUROBIOIMAGING Visit the website http://www.bioimaginguk.org To e-mail the group, send messages to UK-EUROBIOIMAGING-PROJECT(a)JISCMAIL.AC.UK To subscribe visit https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=UK-EUROBIOIMAGING-PROJECT --

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[FILM-Users 00107] microscope test update
by Martin Spitaler 21 Sep '11

21 Sep '11

Dear microscopists, thanks to everybody who has come along to the first test installation for the microscopes for the L-Block in Hammersmith. The microscope was solidly booked all week, and it's been put to the test with very challenging samples. Everybody who has participated, please send me your feedback, which is very important for the purchasing decision: Everything is interesting for us: practical experience (sensitivity, speed, accuracy, reliability), usability, functionality, flexibility, anything that comes to mind, feel free to be critical. I'll collect the feedback and compile a summary document, which will inform the final purchasing decision. More test are being organised for the coming weeks, the schedule so far is: - Leica confocal SP5 and widefield: Tue-Thu 11-13 October 2011 - Zeiss widefield: Tue-Thu 18-20 October 2011 - Olympus widefield: tbc, probably end of October The up-to-date schedule is also on the FILM website under NEWS (http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/portal/page/portallive/imagingfacility/news#micr…) Please keep coming, testing and giving your feedback, you can book your time slot at any time by emailing us in FILM. Good imaging, Martin -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Martin Spitaler, PhD* *FILM - Facility for Imaging by Light Microscopy* - Facility Manager - Sir Alexander Fleming Building, desk 401 Imperial College London / South Kensington Exhibition Road London SW7 2AZ UK Tel. +44-(0)20-759-42023 E-mail m.spitaler(a)imperial.ac.uk <mailto:m.spitaler@imperial.ac.uk> Website: http://imperial.ac.uk/imagingfacility

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[FILM-Users 00111] Fwd: Fwd: today 3pm
by Martin Spitaler 20 Sep '11

20 Sep '11

...forwarded request, can anyone help? Martin -------- Original Message -------- Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:43:44 +0100 From: Maifoshie, Evie <eviemaifoshie(a)gmail.com> To: Martin Spitaler <m.spitaler(a)imperial.ac.uk> Hi Martin, Do you mind checking whether anyone has the following plasmid? pTagBFP-H2B http://www.evrogen.com/products/vectors/pTagBFP-H2B/pTagBFP-H2B.shtml Thank you, Evie -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Martin Spitaler, PhD* *FILM - Facility for Imaging by Light Microscopy* - Facility Manager - Sir Alexander Fleming Building, desk 401 Imperial College London / South Kensington Exhibition Road London SW7 2AZ UK Tel. +44-(0)20-759-42023 E-mail m.spitaler(a)imperial.ac.uk <mailto:m.spitaler@imperial.ac.uk> Website: http://imperial.ac.uk/imagingfacility

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[FILM-Users 00110] Problems with objective lenses
by Martin Spitaler 20 Sep '11

20 Sep '11

Dear microscopists, unfortunately we had again an accident with an objective lens, this time it was the high NA 25x lens used for in vivo imaging. It's the second time in the last few months we had problems with objective lenses, each time resulting in high repair costs and considerable losses of time and money to users for missed experiments. On top of this, we also regularly come across lenses completely encrusted with immersion oil or worse. On this occasion, I need to remind everybody on the importance of being extremely careful with the microscopes and in particular the objective lenses. Specifically: - do not move lenses around; whenever you need any specific setup of lenses (or any other parts, like filter cubes), always request it well in advance through our HARDWARE REQUEST page on Sharepoint, so FILM staff can get it ready by the time you go to the microscope; it's easy for you, and the best way to minimise any risk of damage; this applies to ALL microscopes and ALL users! <https://sharepoint.ic.ac.uk/FoM/NHLI/Facilities/FILM/Lists/FILM%20Hardware%…> - when you struggle to find the focus, start focussing with a low-magnification (e.g. 10x) objective at the edge of the coverslip, then change the objective; and looking at the objective from the side, move it close to the sample (being careful not to move into the sample), then look down the eyepiece and slowly focus AWAY from the sample until you find the focus - be very careful not to get any liquid onto lenses other than immersion oil or water only on specified objective lenses, not air lenses - motorised stages can be very dangerous for objective lenses, so be very careful that they don't move over them and damage them; the (software) design of microscopes unfortunately doesn't always help, so don't forget to move lenses out of the way when you restart software or microscope stands, move to XY / Z '0' etc. - finally, but very importantly: if anything goes wrong, REPORT IT!! It's unlikely that anyone deliberately destroys microscopes, but reporting can avoid further problems, which could be drying liquids corroding the equipment, slight damages getting worse, or other users wasting time and money on experiments they can't complete. Thanks everybody for your collaboration, the facility depends on it. Good imaging, Martin -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Martin Spitaler, PhD* *FILM - Facility for Imaging by Light Microscopy* - Facility Manager - Sir Alexander Fleming Building, desk 401 Imperial College London / South Kensington Exhibition Road London SW7 2AZ UK Tel. +44-(0)20-759-42023 E-mail m.spitaler(a)imperial.ac.uk <mailto:m.spitaler@imperial.ac.uk> Website: http://imperial.ac.uk/imagingfacility

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[FILM-Users 00109] Fwd: postdoc position
by Martin Spitaler 16 Sep '11

16 Sep '11

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[FILM-Users 00108] Fwd: Could you distribute an email for me?
by Martin Spitaler 16 Sep '11

16 Sep '11

...forwarded, for your information, Martin -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Could you distribute an email for me? Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2011 19:42:53 +0100 From: Evans, Pat M <pat.evans(a)imperial.ac.uk> To: Spitaler, Martin <m.spitaler(a)imperial.ac.uk> CC: Levey, Simon P <s.levey(a)imperial.ac.uk> Hi Martin, If you haven’t been asked already could you distribute the email below to the users of FILM? Thanks Subject: Do you work with luminescent organisms? Dear Colleagues, Imperial's Research Communications Team has been contacted by the internationally renowned Science Photo Library (http://splfeatures.blogspot.com/) for our help in creating a gallery of research organisms that glow. I am contacting you to ask if you would be prepared to help us in this task, which will highlight the diversity of research going on at Imperial and give you the chance to have images of your work featured in a magazine and on the Imperial website. The photos will also be available for you to use on your own websites/publications. The timing is yet to be confirmed, so at the moment I'm looking for an expression of interest. Please reply to me with a 'yes', and if you already have images that show your luminescent research subjects please send me a copy. This could either through bioluminescence or because we have applied luminous markers to them. We're looking for as many volunteers as possible so if you know of another colleague who might be interested, please forward this on. I'm happy to discuss if you have any questions. Best wishes, Simon *Simon Levey Research Media Officer (Natural Sciences) *Communications and Development Division Imperial College London Level 4, Faculty Building South Kensington Campus London SW7 2AZ email: s.levey(a)imperial.ac.uk <mailto:s.levey@imperial.ac.uk> Tel: +44(0)20 7594 6702 Out of hours duty press officer: +44(0)7803 886 248 Twitter: www.twitter.com/imperialspark <http://www.twitter.com/imperialspark> Podcast: www.imperial.ac.uk/media/podcasts <http://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/podcasts>**

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[FILM-Users 00092] Definiens training dates
by Martin Spitaler 13 Sep '11

13 Sep '11

Dear microscopists, it's been tricky to find a common date between room and all people involved, and it's now later than originally planned, but now the Definiens Basic training is now fixed: Training course: Definiens Basic I Time & date: Tue 27 - Thu 29 September 2011, 10.00-17.00 Location: Computer Training Room in the Central Library, 2nd floor (South Kensington Campus) Trainer: Thomas Mrowiec, Definiens Available places is 6-10 Costs: max £500 (based on 6 participants, cheaper with more) Definiens Developer XD: We have had this software in the facility for just over a year now, and it's already proved its value for some very challenging image analysis projects which would have been impossible for us otherwise (the most demanding of them the fully automated quantification of immunological synapse formation in 30,000 time frames). The software offers easy access to a huge range of image analysis tools, and is specialised in analysing images on multiple scales, taking the biological context into account. I don't have any shares in the company, but it's just extremely useful, and with a good introduction - like this training course - pretty straightforward to use (recently a user with no experience in image analysis commented 'this is much easier than ImageJ'). I have also noticed that this training course is an excellent entry into the complex field of image analysis, whatever software tool you are using in the future. Trainer and training: Thomas Mrowiec comes from the Definiens Academy, specialising in customer training. The training comes with very detailed training material and sample datasets, and it doesn't require any previous experience. However, users are welcome to bring along their own sample images and get ideas how best to start with their analysis. Arranging the training on-site here we are able to keep the costs to a minimum (no travelling or accomomdation costs, larger number of participants). If you are interested, please book and confirm your place as soon as possible. Good imaging, Martin ================================= Martin Spitaler, PhD FILM - Facility for Imaging by Light Microscopy - Facility Manager - Sir Alexander Fleming Building, desk 401 Imperial College London / South Kensington Exhibition Road London SW7 2AZ UK Tel. +44-(0)20-759-42023 E-mail m.spitaler(a)imperial.ac.uk Website: http://imperial.ac.uk/imagingfacility

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[FILM-Users 00101] microscope demonstration: Zeiss LSM-780
by Martin Spitaler 12 Sep '11

12 Sep '11

Dear microscopists, as part of the move of NHLI from the Brompton to the Hammersmith campus FILM has been asked to organise a new local microscopy unit there. In preparation for the purchase of the required equipment, we are organising demonstrations of various microscope options over the coming ~two months. As in the past, everybody is invited to come along and test the microscopes with their own samples. Either company people or FILM staff will be available to help users with the testing. Afterwards, please tell us your opinion about quality, sensitivity, speed, usability, flexibility, software, .... , the more feedback from various users with different samples we get, the better is. The first demo will be next week. A ZEISS LSM-780 confocal microscope is going to be available Tue 13 - Thu 15 Sept 2011 here in the Fleming Building (South Kensington) in room 530 (next to CF1). If you are interested, please get in contact with FILM staff (Steve, Mark or myself) and book your slot. For CF1 users: On Tue-Wed the confocal should be available, but the room might be more crowded than usual. Looking forward to your feedback, good imaging, Martin ================================= Martin Spitaler, PhD FILM - Facility for Imaging by Light Microscopy - Facility Manager - Sir Alexander Fleming Building, desk 401 Imperial College London / South Kensington Exhibition Road London SW7 2AZ UK Tel. +44-(0)20-759-42023 E-mail m.spitaler(a)imperial.ac.uk Website: http://imperial.ac.uk/imagingfacility

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