Optical Microscopy and Imaging in the Biomedical Sciences (OMIBS) course - August 2022 (Woods Hole, MA)
Dear fellow microscopists, We are excited to announce the 2022 "Optical Microscopy and Imaging in the Biomedical Sciences" (OMIBS) course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA, USA. The course will run this year from Aug 15th – Aug 25th and will take place IN PERSON again. Please join us or encourage your lab members or colleagues to attend the late summer OMIBS course on beautiful Cape Cod!
Applications are due by May 12th and should be submitted via the course website at: https://www.mbl.edu/education/advanced-research-training-courses/course-...
Some COVID restrictions will most likely still be in place in August. However, the course ran very successfully in person in Aug 2021, and this year we are even more confident that we will be able to offer a course experience not too different from pre-COVID times. Everybody involved with the course, from the MBL staff to the course directors, faculty and staff, and our fabulous and loyal commercial faculty, are excited to take on this challenge and deliver a fantastic overall experience for the participants! Since the situation for everybody is still changing, please visit the COVID FAQs link for the latest information on what attendees of the course can expect: https://www.mbl.edu/covid.
Cost: Tuition: $3,775. Room and board: $840. Some limited financial assistance may be available.
Course overview: This 9-day course is limited to 24 participants to ensure a truly interactive, hands-on experience. It consists of interrelated lectures, laboratory exercises, demonstrations, and discussions that will enable the participants to obtain and interpret high quality microscope data, to understand and assess potential artifacts, to perform quantitative optical measurements, and to generate digital images for documentation and analysis that accurately present the data. The course also places a strong emphasis on appropriate sample preparation, including choice of fluorescent probes and fluorescent proteins, and tissue clearing and refractive index matching. Particular emphasis will be placed on ‘picking the right tool for the job’.
Course participants will have direct hands-on experience with state-of-the-art microscopes, a variety of digital cameras, and image processing software provided by major optical, electronics, and software companies. Instruction will be provided by experienced staff from universities and industry. Participants are encouraged to bring their own, fixed biological specimens, and to discuss individual research problems with the faculty.
Who will benefit? The course is designed primarily for research scientists, postdoctoral trainees, core facility directors/staff and graduate students working in the biological sciences. Non-biologists seeking a comprehensive introduction to microscopy and digital imaging in the biomedical sciences will also benefit greatly from this course.
Specimens: Live and fixed specimens will be provided for use in laboratory exercises and demonstrations. Participants can bring their own, fixed biological specimens and discuss individual research problems with the faculty. Attendees are also encouraged to make appointments with our highly experienced commercial faculty outside of scheduled classes to acquire data from their specimens using the available state-of-the-art equipment.