Dear FILM Users and Colleagues, We sincerely thank you for your loyalty, use of the facility, and continued support. At FILM, we strive to meet your needs and offer the best possible service. The FILM team, under Andreas' and my leadership, has been working under pressure, especially in the area of user support. Below are some key statistics on staff and user numbers since 2020: Year Effective Staff Users Groups % Over Norm 2023 3 429 156 286% 2022 3.4 426 168 250% 2021 3 383 149 255% 2020 3 321 129 214%

From December 2024, we anticipate temporarily having only two staff members—David and myself—working at the facility. However, we are making every effort to attract new talents and hope to have additional staff soon.

To enhance our support, I am considering organizing a microscopy and imaging course. I have previously taught similar courses in Glasgow and Oxford, with a focus on postdocs, PhD students, and junior imaging facility managers. The course spanned 16 hours, and I also edited the textbook Principles of Light Microscopy: From Basic to Advanced (2022)<https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-04477-9>, which has been downloaded 28K times. I kindly ask for your feedback: would you be interested in participating in such a course, and are there any specific topics you would like to see covered? Thank you in advance for your input. Best regards, Volodymyr