Help us pick the next core facility flagship confocal microscope!
The ORP Imaging Cores - Optical will be hosting a number of on-site demonstrations of high-end confocal microscopes in the fall semester of 2026. Our goal is to work with our users and evaluate these instruments so that we can find the best match to people's research needs.
We are surveying the campus to better understand what is important to our users and potential users (SURVEY LINK). Our thanks to those who responded to our calls for participating in the survey between July 14-August 7, 2026. A UA lab won $250 worth of instrument time in the Imaging Cores - Optical as a result of responding to the survey. We have decided to leave the survey open to make sure we capture a broad cross-section of campus users.
On-site demonstrations will be housed in Life Sciences North (map), room 429 (SE corner of the fourth floor). Scheduling time to see each instrument will be handled by the vendors, but we will include links below (far right column of the table) as we received them. The vendors plan to give seminars (virtual) before their demonstrations to introduce the technology and features of their instruments. Additional details and links to the seminars will be posted here as they become available.
BUILDING ACCESS: The fourth floor of Life Sciences North can be entered (during regular work hours) through the bridge connecting the building to the College of Medicine without needing a pre-authorized CatCard. Room 429 is in the southeast corner of the fourth floor. The seminar room (LSN 452) is located in the northeast corner of the fourth floor. If you anticipate needing assistance to get into the building, please email us at opticalimaging@arizona.edu and we will give you a phone number to call.
SEMINAR & DEMONSTRATION SCHEDULE
THIS INFORMATION WILL BE UPDATED REGULARLY - current as of August 14, 2026
Printable PDF version of the demonstration schedule (PDF current as of 2026-08-11)
| Date/time | Instrument description and links | Scheduling a demo |
|---|---|---|
| July-Nov 2026 | USER SURVEY If you have not already responded, please spend a few moments to tell us about your research microscopy needs. | -- |
| Wednesday, Aug 26, 2026, 12-1pm | SEMINAR LOCATION: Life Sciences North - room 452 (see information above about building access) | -- |
| Aug 31 - Sept 4, 2026 | INSTRUMENT DEMONSTRATION EVIDENT (formerly Olympus) FV5000 confocal microscope with new SilVIR™ detectors. The groundbreaking SilVIR™ detectors deliver photon-level quantitation, while redesigned scanner control enables 2K resonant and 8K galvo scanning to capture dynamic events with sharper precision. Smart automation streamlines workflows, and built-in stability ensures reproducible results. | The scheduling calendar will be made available after the seminar. |
| Thursday, Aug 27, 2026, 12-1pm | SEMINAR LOCATION: Life Sciences North - room 452 (see information above about building access) | -- |
| Sept 14 - 25, 2026 | INSTRUMENT DEMONSTRATION LEICA Stellaris 8 confocal microscope with white light laser with FALCON and STED. This includes a tunable WLL (440nm-790nm), 5 Tunable Detectors (410nm-850nm), Integrated FLIM, TauSense Tools (Fast-FLIM generated imaging), Navigator software, Lightning Deconvolution, and STED superresolution (3 depletion lasers; 589nm pulsed, 660nm, and 775nm pulsed). | -- |
| TBD | SEMINAR Nikon seminar | |
| Oct 5-9, 2026 | INSTRUMENT DEMONSTRATION NIKON AX-R confocal microscope with N-Sparc | -- |
| TBD | SEMINAR Oxford/Andor seminar | |
| Oct 19-23, 2026 | INSTRUMENT DEMONSTRATION OXFORD/ANDOR Dragonfly spinning disk confocal | |
| TBD | SEMINAR Zeiss seminar | |
| Nov 16-20, 2026 | INSTRUMENT DEMONSTRATION ZEISS LSM 990 with Airyscan 2 confocal microscope, combining 34-channel Spectral detection, Airyscan super-resolution, NIR capability, full incubation control, automated sample detection and the new and unique Lightfield4D module for the most demanding live-cell, high resolution and multicolor imaging applications. | -- |