Spain joins Euro-BioImaging ERIC as a new member state

Euro-BioImaging (EUuBI) is the European landmark research infrastructure for biological and biomedical imaging as recognised by the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI). Through EuBI, life scientists can access imaging instruments, expertise, training opportunities and data management services that they might not find at their home institutions or among their collaboration partners. All scientists, regardless of their affiliation, area of expertise or field of activity can benefit from these pan-European open access services, which are provided with high quality standards by leading imaging facilities.

The fully distributed infrastructure of Euro-BioImaging is coordinated by a Hub and offers its services via 41 internationally renowned specialised imaging facilities called Nodes, which are located across 19 member countries and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). Spain became of these member states in December 2023and boasts 5 Nodes, including the Super Resolution Node Barcelona, coordinated by ICFO and located both at ICFO and at CRG,  and the Mesoscopic Imaging Node Barcelona, coordinated by IRBB and located at CRG, IRBB and ICFO.  These nodes in which ICFO’s SLN Facility plays an active role, started as EuBI Candidate Nodes in 2016 when the EuBI was in an interim phase, awaiting the legal status of an ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium) which was granted in 2019. As a member state, Spain will contribute delegates to the Euro-BioImaging Board and will also play key roles in shaping European imaging strategies and influencing research trends.  It will also be able to promote its national biological and biomedical imaging capabilities within the networks of this European organization.

“The addition of Spain and Belgium to Euro-BioImaging, bringing our total membership to 19, is a remarkable milestone to conclude the year," commented Euro-BioImaging Director General, John Eriksson when announcing the entry of the newest members in December last year. "Their strong commitment and expertise in bioimaging align with our goals and also promise to enrich our community with invaluable insights and contributions to facilitate excellent science and innovation.”

Dr. Pablo Loza-Alvarez, head of the SLN Facility at ICFO and coordinator of the Super Resolution Node Barcelona sees Spain’s full integration in the EuBI community as an excellent opportunity for European life-science researchers.  “As a participant in 2 of the EuBI nodes, we look forward to facilitating collaborations with researchers from all over Europe, helping them to advance their individual projects through access to our advanced microscopy instrumentation. We will also facilitate novel, tailor made solutions developed in the SLN facility and the other areas of the Barcelona-based nodes, eventually making these available on a large scale to advance the field of advanced microscopy”.