Cutting edge research infrastructures celebrated at SU Imaging Day
High-definition electron microscopy and fluorescence imaging held centre stage at SU Imaging Day, which is a recurring event aimed to highlight and celebrate the open research facilities at Stockholm University. Professors Gunnar Svensson and Edouard Pesquet organised the event, which aims to inspire, cross-pollinate and showcase the opportunities that exist, not only for researchers at Stockholm University, but also other academic institutions.
Understanding the hierarchical structure of cellulose nanofibrils is crucial for developing cellulose-based materials with enhanced mechanical properties. The image aboive presents a virtual image from analyzing scanning electron diffraction data of a longitudinally sectioned transparent wood sample. This image shows a region where two fiber cells intersect within the material. The colors and lines illustrate the continuous alignment and orientation of cellulose nanofibrils within each cell, with a noticeable shift in orientation toward the outer cell wall. Photo: Mathias Nero.
This year, SU Imaging Day focused on the multi-faceted possibilities that the Electron Microscopy Center (EMC), the Imaging Facility at Stockholm University (IFSU) and the Intravital Microscopy Facility (IVMSU) opens to researchers of various disciplines within the Science academic area. The organisers of the event, Professor Gunnar Svensson and Professor Edouard Pesquet, represent researh conducted within the fields of chemistry and biology respectively – two field that used to be separated, but currently are growing closer, not least at Stockholm University. Throughout the day, researchers from various department at Stockholm University were able to showcase how they use the open research infrastructures availabe at the Faculty of Science.
Gunnar Svensson mentiones that there are currently three transmission electron microscopes and three scanning electron microscopes available at EMC. EMC has been an open research infrastructure since 2008, and there are currently five specialist staff working to help users with the instruments, sample preparation and data analysis. The also train researchers on how to use and perform the equipment.
The transmission electron and scanning electron microscopes are currently used by reserachers from many disciplines, such as chemistry, biology, physics and geological science. Apart from the microscopes, other essential equipment are available to prepare samples, such as cutting tools, polishing tools, and equipment aiming at sectioning at a low temperature.
Image by: Vasilios Tsarouhas and Ylva Engström, Department of Molecular Bioeciences,The Wenner-Gren Intsitute.
Edouard Pesquet underlines that the available research infrastructures have opened the way for closer collaborations between biology and chemistry research, by using instruments initially developed for "hard" chemical materials on "soft" biological materials, and vice versa.
The Faculty of Science at Stockholm University houses several open resarch facilities, which can be easily found here. These facilities are not only available to researchers from Stockholm Universitym but also to researchers from other universitites, academic institutions and the private industries.
Gunnar and Edouard welcome and encourage all who are interested to explore the available imaging infrastructures, and will reconduce the SU Imaging Day next year to present new cutting-edge research performed at Stockholm University.
Faculty of science research infrastructure
Last updated: October 13, 2024
Source: Office of Science