European projects

One of the aims of EMS is to support, with a variety of services, European or transnational research projects for which microscopy is the core theme. Below you find links to all projects that we have been informed of. If you know of a project or network that should be listed here, please inform the EMS secretary.

HORIZON-INFRA-2022-TECH-01-01 grant led by R Ciancio.

2023 - 2027
Title: “Interoperable electron Microscopy Platform for advanced RESearch and Services” (IMPRESS).

The aim of this project is instrumentation development for electron microscopy.

Start: February 1 2023

HORIZON-INFRA-2021-SERV-01-04 grant (project number 101058414) led by S Facsko.

2022 - 2026
Title: “Recyclable materials development at analytical research infrastructures” (ReMade@ARI).

A radical shift to the Circular Economy is urgently needed to cope with the challenge of finite resources decreasing at a frightening pace while the quantity of waste increases alarmingly. The European Commission?s (EC) Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) adopted in March 2020 has identified seven key product value chains that must rapidly become circular, given their environmental impacts and circularity potentials. This requires substantial research on materials with a very high recycling capability while exhibiting competitive functionalities. In ReMade@ARI, the most significant European analytical research infrastructures join forces to pioneer a support hub for materials research facilitating a step change to the Circular Economy. ReMade@ARI offers coordinated access to more than 50 European analytical research infrastructures, comprising the majority of the facilities that constitute the Analytical Research Infrastructures in Europe (ARIE) network. ReMade@ARI offers comprehensive services suiting any research focusing on the development of new materials for the Circular Economy in the key areas highlighted in the CEAP and plays an important role in the preparation of the common technology roadmap for circular industries. Senior scientist, facility experts and highly trained young researchers contribute scientific knowledge and extensive support to realise a user service of unprecedented quality, making each promising idea a success. Particular attention is attributed to the implementation of attractive formats to support researchers and developers from industry. The comprehensive service catalogue is complemented by an extensive training programme. Communication and dissemination activities are underpinned by a continuous impact assessment, which also enables evidence- based decision-making in the context of the proposal selection. Routes to sustainability of the platform will be explored towards the end of the project.

Start: September 1 2022

ESTEEM3 – European Network for Electron Microscopy

ESTEEM3 – Enabling Science and Technology through European Electron Microscopy – is an H2020 Integrating Activity project for electron microscopy, which aims at providing access to the leading European state-of-the-art electron microscopy research infrastructures, facilitating and extending transnational access services of the most powerful atomic scale characterization techniques in advanced electron microscopy research to a wide range of academic and industrial research communities for the analysis and engineering of novel materials in physical, chemical and biological sciences. Read more

ChipScope

ChipScope – Overcoming the Limits of Diffraction with Super-Resolution Lighting on a Chip

ChipScope will revolutionize optical microscopes with super-resolution capabilities, making them chip-sized, convenient, affordable and ubiquitously available, not only for laboratories working in manifold research fields, but also in everyday life. During the project, very small LEDs of 50 nm (this is 1000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair) will be developed and used as light sources for a new microscope which will be integrated on a chip. The fundamental difference with conventional optical microscopy will be that the illumination is made by extremely small individual light sources instead of a wide illumination field and tiny detectors in the camera. This allows super-resolution (<50nm) optical microscopy, which could be used to investigate extremely small structures as viruses, DNA or living cells, in real time.

FP7

MINERVA: MId- to NEaR infrared spectroscopy for improVed medical diAgnostics

The MINERVA project is funded under the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-ICT) and runs from November 2012 until October 2016.

- Project cost 10.6 M€
- Project funding 7.3 M€

The MINERVA project brings together thirteen partners from across Europe with the common objective of developing mid-infrared (mid-IR) technology to improve the early diagnosis of cancer.

In recent years it has become clear that a technology known as mid-IR imaging spectroscopy has the potential to open a new chapter in bio-medical imaging. There is good evidence that it could be an effective tool for early cancer diagnosis and improved survival rates. The mid-IR covers the bio-molecule “fingerprint region” and can be used to identify tiny quantities of chemicals associated with important diseases.

Early work based on a direct search for “cancer marker” absorption peaks has proved of limited value. However, great progress has been made in recent years by analysing the entire bio-molecular mid-IR spectral signature using automated algorithms. Mathematical techniques, especially multi-variate analysis, map the distribution of different related molecular species. Computer programs then search for and identify known patterns that have been shown to be linked with cancer, allowing improved early diagnosis.

To date, the lack of suitable sources, detectors and components in the mid-IR has restricted the technology to one of academic interest, based on weak thermal sources, low power lasers or synchrotron research tools.

The MINERVA project will take advantage of several new breakthroughs in photonic technology to develop a new mid-IR technology platform and processes for early detection of cancer.

ESFRI

European Biomedical Imaging Infrastructure - from Molecule to Patient

Preparatory Phase: 2009-2010 (10 M€)
Construction Phase: 2010-2014 (370 M€)
Operation: 2012 onwards (160 M€ per year)
Coordinators: Dr. Jan Ellenberg, EMBL (Advanced Light Microscopy) ; Prof. Gabriel Krestin, EIBIR (Medical Imaging)

Euro-BioImaging is a pan-European research infrastructure project which is part of the ESFRI process. The aim of Euro-BioImaging is to provide access to imaging technologies across the full scale of biological and medical applications, from molecule to patient.

Euro-BioImaging will address the imaging requirements of both basic and medical imaging communities by creating nodes in many ESFRI member states that will deploy imaging infrastructure in a coordinated and harmonised manner and thus address the fragmentation of such efforts currently present in Europe.

FP6

European Integrated Activity of Excellence and Networking for Nano and
Micro-Electronics Analysis (ANNA)

Integrated Project (IP3)
2006 - 2010
Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Massimo Bersani, Fondazione Bruno Kessler irst, Povo,
Italy

The continuous miniaturization supported by newest technologies enables advanced micro- and nanoelectronics. An enormous worldwide R&D effort focuses on the understanding and controlling materials properties and dimensions at atomic level. Crucial for groundbreaking new developments is the availability of appropriate analytical infrastructures. New materials and the demand of improved detection sensitivities regarding contaminants provide huge challenges concerning the capabilities of current analysis equipment and expertise. In the past, European laboratories with core competencies in materials characterization and trace analysis worked mostly independently.

Within the next years, the intended European multi-site laboratory ANNA forms a cooperative, synergetic network of analytically working scientists and already existing institutions. Each institution has different but complementary competencies and analytical expertise. This provides the necessary integrated approach supporting the research activities for micro- linked. At the same time, the offered analytical services and transnational access enhance further future research and development of the multi- site laboratory.

The following list shows the main objective of ANNA

To integrate and enhance European analytical resources
To create a centre of excellence of analysis for nanotechnologies and a multisite laboratory
Long term vision: integrated distributed laboratory

Enabling Science and Technology through European Electron Microscopy
(ESTEEM)

Integrated Project (IP3)
2006 - 2011
Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Gustaaf Van Tendeloo, Electron Microscopy for
Materials Science, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

Nanomaterials need characterization on a nanoscale. The ESTEEM integrating initiative on advanced electron microscopy in materials science offers a unique chance to consolidate and strengthen the European critical mass by combining the efforts of the leading groups in both the 'original' and 'new' EC member states. The objectives of the project are summarized below.

I. NA (Networking activities): The mobilisation of a large number of stakeholders in the different fields of electron microscopy has the potential to create a high added value, but this can only be reached if the way the research infrastructures operate, evolve and interact with each other and with potential users is well balanced. The networking activities aim to catalyse co-ordination and co-operation between the different users. This can be split into several measurable targets. A major effort (NA2) will be the distribution of new knowledge over the different partners; this will be under the form of workshops and brain storming sessions. This NA2 partially runs in parallel with NA3, which particularly involves EC countries where electron microscopy is less popular or less wide spread. The goal is to organise dedicated sessions and a web site including discussion capacity for advice. NA4 and NA5 aim to improve comparison between experiments in different partner laboratories. The aim is to create standards and compatibility between different methods, different instruments and different software packages. It is clear that for the European industry, aiming towards nanotechnology, this definition of standards is crucial. In the NA6 network remote access to more advanced (and expensive) instruments is proposed. At the end of the project, this access will be available for all labs in the network.

II. TA (Transnational activities): The transnational access activities are set up to ensure that researchers from all over Europe have access to the best available infrastructure that is required to perform their research on an equal basis. The infrastructure offered within the project is the best available not only in Europe but also compared to the rest of the world. Each partner involved is able to provide leading scientific, technical and logistic support to new users. The success of the TA will be measured through the number of visitors and the collaborative publications. The ESTEEM web site with all available information will be the key communication forum.

III. JRA (Joint research activities): All the JRA's are meant to enhance the potential and the attractiveness of the TA: JRA1-3 through scientific enhancement, JRA4-5 through technological improvements. Equally, the wide range of different needs of visitors within the TA will sharpen the definitions and finetune the objectives of the different JRA's. The joint research activities focus on the development of microscopy accessories and microscopy methods as well as on their application to nanoscience. The different JRA's are not completely independent. JRA1, JRA2 and JRA3 are all meant to image nanostructures with emphasis on morphology, composition, electronic structure and local (electric or magnetic) fields. The different JRA's have their own milestones, as to the resolution to be obtained, depending on the techniques used. JRA4 and JRA5 are filling the gap left by microscope manufacturers. Very high quality detectors and highly specialised sample holders are not commercially available and prototypes will be produced, eventually in collaboration with SME's. JRA 1-3 will benefit from the results obtained by JRA4 and JRA5. A measurable target will be the development of a detector exceeding all commercially available detectors and in situ heating and straining holders with superior stability.

Three Dimensional Electron Microscopy (3D-EM)

Network of Excellence (NoE)
2004 - 2008
Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Andreas Engel, Maurice Mueller Institute, Biocenter, Basel, Switzerland
3D-EM Training Site
The aim of 3D-EM is to make Europe the leader in three-dimensional electron microscopy analysis. The integration of the leading European laboratories in electron microscopy in the Network of Excellence is suggested as a fundamental tool to develop standardized procedures and innovative equipments for comprehensive structural analysis based on advances in electron microscopy. These will be made accessible to the Biological and Medical communities via the creation of state-of-the-art centers with adequate regional distribution to provide access to instrumentation and protocols developed within the Network. The inclusion of the internationally leading manufacturer for high performance instrumentation for life sciences, FEI Electron Optics, in the 3D-EM NoE will guarantee a close interaction of academic and applied research within the network and an immediate transfer of knowledge from basic science to industrial application. The kick-off meeting for the 3D-EM Network of Excellence took place in Martinsried, Germany, in March 2004.

Chiral dichroism in the transmission electron microscope (CHIRALTEM)

Specific Targetted Research Project (STREP)
2004 - 2007
Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Peter Schattschneider, Vienna University of Technology, Institute for Solid State Physics, Austria

Using new experimental results, the aim is to develop a novel method for accurate measurement of chiral dichroism (the absorption of circular polarised photons). If successful it will provide a new analytical technique for transmission electron microscopy, allowing accurate measurement of magnetic properties below the surface and in multilayer materials at nanometre resolutions.

Imaging with neutral atoms (INA)

Specific Targetted Research Project (STREP)
2004 - 2007
Coordinator: Dr. Bodil Holst, Institute of Experimental Physics, Petersgasse 16, A - 8010 Graz, Austria

The objective is to improve the resolution of helium atom microscopy by a factor of 50, from 1 micron to 0.02 micron. This would create a novel imaging method with unique characteristics and a wide application range (bio-physical, bio-medical, electronics, and other applications), and give European researchers a leading position in the technology of atom optics.

3D Genome structure and function (3DGENOME)

Specific Targetted Research Project (STREP)
2003 - 2006
Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Roel van Driel, SILS, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The 3Dgenome consortium members will develop state-of-the-art 3D light microscopy techniques, along with image processing and analysis tools to visualise DNA inside the cell. They will correlate the genome's 3D structure with the expression of specific genes in human, mice and drosophila cells. Using this range of model systems will help establish which aspects of the 3D genome structure have been conserved through evolution and which are most likely to play an important role in gene regulation.

FP5

ltipurpose, transportable twin X-ray microscopy end-station (TWINMIC)

Cost-sharing contracts (FP5)
2001 - 2005
Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Massimo Altarelli, EXPERIMENTAL SECTOR, Strada Statale 14, KM Area Science Park, 34012, Basovizza, Italy European advanced light microscopy network (EAMNET)

Thematic network contracts (FP5)
2002 - 2005
Coordinator: Dr. Giovanni Tognoni, CONSORZIO MARIO NEGRI SUD, DEPARTMENT OF CELL BIOLOGY AND ONCOLOGY, Via Nazionale, 66030, ARIELLI, Italy
Development of a smart nanorobot for sensor-based handling in a scanning electron microscope (ROBOSEM)

Competitive and Sustainable Growth - Key Action Innovative Products, Processes and Organisation (FP5)
2002 - 2005
Coordinator: Prof. Hans-Jürgen Appelrath, KURATORIUM OFFIS E.V., Escherweg 2, 26121 Oldenburg, Germany