Course Overview

24 participants will be selected through a competitive selection process. The small number ensures that every participant individually gets sufficient time on various imaging stations during the hands-on training sessions.

International applications will be entertained from across the globe. Previous courses have had participants from Argentina, China, Singapore, Australia, USA, UK, Russia, Japan, Spain, South Africa, Germany, Switzerland, France, Nigeria, Sweden, Portugal, Poland, Norway, Qatar, Hungary and Pakistan.

The course will be intense and will require full-time participation from morning till evening. Lectures will be combined with practical demonstrations and discussions with teachers. The course will cover many aspects of modern biological microscopy including microscope optics, associated hardware, fluorophores and sample preparation techniques. Participants can bring their own samples to image using the systems available at the course. Designated 'free time on microscopes' will be available practically every day of the course where the participants can explore a particular imaging system and image their samples.

A set of student independent projects will be provided for the final part of the course. An expert faculty/industry scientist will guide each of these projects. Participants can also design their own projects based on the instruments/techniques available at the course. In such case they will have to bring their own samples and reagents.

All major microscope companies and microscope hardware/software providers are attending and providing additional equipment and support to this course. The participants will have the opportunity to interact with technical experts from these companies as well as receive demonstrations of high-end equipment they bring as exhibits. Some of these equipment will also be included as part of the course.