EuroBioImaging funding call

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Euro-BioImaging is pleased to announce our first open call for user projects to celebrate the return to more normal conditions! If you have an idea for a biological or biomedical imaging project that you, your student or your close colleague could carry out in one of the 33 Euro-BioImaging Nodes – now is the time to make this project come true with financial support from the Euro-BioImaging Access Fund.

How it works:

Submit your project proposal through the Euro-BioImaging web portal between October 20 and December 15, 2021, and indicate that you want to apply for the Euro-BioImaging Access Fund in order to be considered for a grant of up to 5.000 Euros to access the imaging services at a Euro-BioImaging Node. Projects will be evaluated by a committee of independent reviewers. Successful applicants will be notified by late January 2022 and successful projects should be started before July 2022.

What the funding covers:

The Euro-BioImaging Access Fund covers the user’s travel and accommodation costs as well as access and consumable costs at the imaging facilities that are part of Euro-BioImaging Nodes. For remote access projects shipment costs are also covered. Each successful applicant is eligible for up to 5.000 Euros of support.

Who is eligible:

All academic scientists, regardless of gender, nationality, home institution, career phase, or field of interest, are eligible to apply. We strongly encourage early career researchers to apply for this grant.

Projects must include transnational access to a Euro-BioImaging Node, i.e. the applicant’s home institution is in a different country than the Node where the project is to be performed.

Evaluation:

All applications will be evaluated for scientific excellence by a committee of independent reviewers. Selected projects will be assessed for technical feasibility and if needed receive technical advice from the Node providing the service.

How to apply:

Applicants are invited to visit our website to discover the range of technologies provided by Euro-BioImaging Nodes. Applicants will then follow the user access process described here: https://www.eurobioimaging.eu/about-us/how-to-access and indicate that they wish to apply for the Euro-BioImaging Access Fund in the application form.

Full details: https://www.eurobioimaging.eu/about-us/funding-user-access

Workgroup meeting intravital imaging

Dear Intravital microscopy enthusiasts,

Are you working with, or planning to work with, intravital microscopy? Would you like to share your knowledge, gain experience, and expand your network? Then the Intravital Microscopy workgroup within the NVvM (Dutch Microscopy Organization) is something for you. We organize our first (online) meeting on the 15th of October, from 15.00-17.00. We aim to bring people in the field of Intravital Imaging together.

Since it is our first official meeting, we start with an introduction round and discussion of our proposed mission statement, see the program below. Also, since intravital microscopy does not stop at the border, we have invited speakers associated with the German Bioimaging (Gerbi) Intravital Imaging workgroup, which was initiated 5 years ahead of us. Feel free to invite your colleagues (via spreading the zoom link) within your institute but also potentially interested collaborators elsewhere, possibly abroad.

The zoom link is

https://maastrichtuniversity.zoom.us/j/96057488205?pwd=UUp3RWd5TGV0NW9QbUVSNmIxTDd2dz09

Meeting ID: 960 5748 8205, Password: 332449

With best regards,
Gert-Jan Bakker and Marc van Zandvoort

Program:
15:00h Introduction round
15:15h Proposed mission statement
15:30h First speaker, Dr. Hans-Ulrich Fried, head of the Light Microscope Facility, DZNE
Hans Fried runs a core facility in the DZNE (Bonn), with 8 out of 30 setups being dedicated to multiphoton imaging, small animal operation tables, and analysis software tools dedicated to intravital microcopy. Within the DZNE, groups study neuro-degeneration and are therefore specialized on intravital imaging of the brain or spinal cord, using imaging techniques ranging from super resolution STED to deep imaging with three-photon excitation.

16:15h Second speaker, Dr. Katrin Roth, chair Intravital Imaging Workgroup Gerbi
Katrin Roth is the head of the Imaging Facility in the University of Marburg, which has a strong focus on intravital imaging with skin and bone models. Within the Gerbi, Kathrin is the chair of the Intravital Imaging (IvMic) workgroup, which she will present during our meeting. The IvMic organized already several meetings, with round table discussions on main themes and presentations on cutting-edge models and imaging methods.

16:45h Mission statement revisited, outlook, questions, and announcements
17:00h closure remarks

NEMI Day 2021 postponed to March 22 2022

NEMI and NeCEN are happy to invite you to the postponed NEMI day, which will take place 22nd March 2022 (9:00-17:00) at the beautiful venue of Naturalis Leiden. More info will follow in due time.

Postdoc (3 yr) Intracellular Notch trafficking and stem cell fate

Postdoc  (3 yr) Intracellular Notch trafficking and stem cell fate

Background: Notch proteins are master regulators of cell fate during development and control cell renewal and differentiation in most adult tissues. Activation of Notch proteins is regulated by successive enzymatic cleavages that release the cell membrane-bound form that acts as a transcriptional regulator. More recently, import roles of intracellular vesicles in regulating Notch activity are being identified (see Pubmed 34572582). We have now identified metal-binding transporters as key mediators of intracellular Notch trafficking and activity. 

Key objectives. To identify the importance of metal transport on intracellular Notch localization and activity in vesicles and how this can block Notch activity in tumours or promote regeneration of normal cell types. You will apply gain and loss of function (CRISPR, siRNA pharmacological) in Notch-dependent 2D and 3D models (cell lines, normal and tumour organoids (lung, intestine) and high-resolution fluorescent imaging (confocal, STED) and single-cell analysis to decipher how Dmt1/Notch signaling allocates cell identify and how iron transport is involved. You will use reagents we developed (Ab’s, Tg mouse models) to track the fate of Notch activity in fixed and live tissues. 

We are looking for a Postdoc with a PhD in molecular and cell biology and a broad experience and track record with primary cell culture and cellular imaging using confocal fluorescence microscopy. You will be working in a team with a strong expertise in Notch biology. 

General Profile: We are looking for an open-minded, independent and result-oriented scientist to join our team with a strong interested in fundamental research into regenerative medicine. You are fluent in English, both in writing and speech.

Conditions of employment: according to the collective labour agreement of Dutch Universities. NWO funded research.

Contract type: Temporary, 36 months. 

Organization: Maastricht University, GROW Institute for Oncology and Developmental Biology (www.grow-um.nl). The radiotherapy department (www.maastrolab.com) conducts fundamental and translational research and is closely affiliated with Maastro patient clinic and the Maastricht Comprehensive Cancer Centre. Our research is focused on identifying therapeutic vulnerabilities in the tumour microenvironment to improve treatment response. The lab has four PI’s with research in the area of tumour cell metabolism (Kampen Group), Cell death (Bock group), Extracellular vesicles (Rouschop group) and Notch and Stem cells (Vooijs Group). In addition, we have established a strong expertise in culturing normal, and tumour stem cell models (organoids. ALI) and have access to a large tissue biobank and material from clinical studies. We have high resolution optical and electron microscopy and mass spectomnetry (M4I) at Maastricht University.

Additional information: Marc Vooijs marc.vooijs@maastrichtuniversity.nl 

Applications: include a motivation letter, CV and contact information of two references.