Did you know zebrafish share many of the same genes as humans? Gage Crump, PhD, Professor and Vice Chair of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at USC Stem Cell, explains how this tiny fish is helping advance human health research. @keckschoolusc.bsky.social

One thing that always lifts my spirits as the nights draw in is the sound of the geese coming south for the winter. Such cheery, chatty birds. (Watch with sound on)

This looks great for learning and improving your research git workflows, "Rather than simply teaching commands, the sessions explore the workflows that make them meaningful". Can connect to the talk online, so no excuses not to join!

🙌 #FOM2026 takes place in Stockholm 🇸🇪 from 🗓️ March 29 to April 1, exploring the latest innovations & developments in optical microscopy. Apply for financial support - up to 10 candidates from underrepresented backgrounds will be supported. 🔬 More info🔽 www.focusonmicroscopy.org/2026-financi...

🔵 The Carpentries have recently published a new version of Building Better Research Software, a lesson in The Carpentries Incubator designed to serve as a “next steps” workshop after Software Carpentry. Find out more about it and how to get involved at: www.software.ac.uk/news/calling...

🚨Publication alert🚨 My first, first-author paper is now out in @natphoton.nature.com! Our paper describes an iterative spectral unmixing algorithm and eight-channel camera-based hardware we developed enabling unmixing of low SNR live-cell data at video rates. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This is a fantastic read. Entertaining and informative, with some great snark thrown in for good measure

Does anyone have any experience with building a DIY upconversion/SHG setup to get pulsed blue out of a Ti:Sapph laser (Chameleon)? It seems like it should be fairly straightforward, but I would value any tips people have, or numbers for efficiency level you achieved. Thanks in advance!

A thoughtful account of why version control is essential for research software: "achieving the highest levels of insight and impact requires robust tooling and reproducibility baked into its core"; "...requires code that can handle significant complexity and can evolve" [1/3]

I'm delighted to share the news that I've been promoted to (full) Professor. Feeling very thankful for all those who have mentored and supported me over the years, the smart and enthusiastic team I get to work with on cool science, and the colleagues who make Glasgow a great place to work.

Some wise words on the use of GenAI in scientific activity. "...that is a tacit admission that the work is not worth being done by the scientist. [...] we’ve yielded the opportunity to think about science, discuss our practice, expand our understanding, spark new ideas and develop as researchers."

I'm excited to be co-organising a workshop on Imaging Forces & Mechanobiology in Living Tissues @ Imperial College London, Wed 2 July (with @noelresearchlab.bsky.social & @jvermot.bsky.social). Register here forms.cloud.microsoft/e/hakfMEbgRB by 13 Jun (limited spaces; will confirm acceptance asap)

As we mark #PrideMonth, we take this moment to celebrate LGBTQ+ identities and also reflect on the ongoing work to make our universities places where every member can thrive. Thank you to colleagues for co-authoring this powerful piece on Rainbow Office Hours ➡️ gla.ac/3Zio6uv #OneTeamUofG 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️

#Science Bluesky, do your thing: We're organising the International Symposium on Mechanobiology (ISMB) 2026 in #Glasgow & we're looking for research groups in Latin America & Africa who are doing great work in #Mechanobiology or adjacent areas. Can you indicate some names to me?

1. Over the past four months I've talked with many foundation directors about science philanthropy during Trump 2.0. Two things come to the fore every time. i) The most important they can do is maintain the pipeline of talent ii) With the federal govt pulling out, ROI is higher now than ever.

Fully-funded and well-supported PhD opportunity for Black UK-domiciled students here at Glasgow University: www.gla.ac.uk/scholarships.... The main call for applications closed in January, but evidently 2 more places have become available - a potential open goal for a suitable applicant! [1/2]

Some wise advice here about how to approach the challenges of PhD study, from the human perspective: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Wonderful meeting on Friday organised by @glasgowimaging.bsky.social , with inspiring and impressive keynote talk by @alicepyne.bsky.social and a brilliant array of ECR speakers doing cool science driven by imaging. Had some great conversations; looking forward to next year already 😀

Neil Chue Hong (www.linkedin.com/in/neilchueh...) discusses SSI's £4.8M Research Software Maintenance Fund (www.software.ac.uk/news/ukri-aw...), supporting research software maintenance, and its role in software sustainability. Listen at 🎙️ podcast.sustainoss.org/264

This is a valuable course for UK researchers writing research code and wanting to put their practices on a more robust and open footing, and learn more about best practices in the field.

🧑‍🏫 The SSI is delivering a course on “Software practices for open and reproducible research” from Tuesday 1-4 April. Find out more about it at www.software.ac.uk/news/worksho...

One more week left to apply! Closing date 19th March

Looks like Zeiss just released a Fourier light field (doi.org/10.1364/OE.2...) product: www.zeiss.com/microscopy/e... I'll be very interested to see how people get on with it.

the Glasgow Imaging Network (GIN) Symposium is back for 2025! The symposium will take place on 4th April 2025 at the Mazumdar-Shaw Advanced Research Centre (ARC), University of Glasgow. Register and submit your abstract via Eventbrite: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/glasgow-im...

I have a postdoc position open for an experimentalist excited about using cutting-edge FLIM-FRET biophotonics technology to measure forces in beating heart tissue tinyurl.com/flim-heart. Criteria flexible, we just need somebody with good experimental skills and enthusiasm to learn. Please RT! [1/4]

We present: Direct-view oblique plane microscopy www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

More adventures with polarised sunglasses: today I learned that ice is birefringent! Beautiful patterns in ice left behind over the top of dried-up puddles - reflections from the lower surface plus birefringent effects (atoptics.co.uk/blog/ice-col...). Presumably requires monocrystalline ice?

"It takes years to build a science lab." New post from us. "The long timelines to build up a team... make science research work different than many parts of the private sector." Science is hard to build but easy to break. The uncertainty is right now breaking cancer research. 🧪

UK academics: If you know a talented undergraduate from a disadvantaged background who is interested in imaging research, encourage them to apply for these funded summer placements:

This account is for sharing info with US scientists, both extramural and intramural to NIH, about attacks on science in the US. Education is power, and we can help advocate for science and medicine together. 💪🧪 We are a team of NIH people. Please ask us questions you might have.

Closing a week on the slopes with amazing news; I’ll be starting an independent fellowship at @uofgsii.bsky.social in April! My lab will focus on applications of optical imaging to infection biology in the Dept. of Bacteriology. Can’t wait to join a great team of researchers & pals! 🧪🧫🔬 #MicroSky

When the sun shines, the west coast of Scotland is a great place to live and work. 20 minutes on the train from this front-door view and I'm in the biggest city in Scotland and heading in to a lab filled with talented people 😀🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Tools to analyze early heart morphogenesis in detail are limited. @noelresearchlab.bsky.social &co develop computational package called morphoHeart that allows for integrated 3D analysis of both #heart & extracellular matrix morphology in live #zebrafish embryos 🧪 @plosbiology.org plos.io/42DlqtJ

Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming info on the Glasgow Imaging Network Symposium 2025 👀 Also please follow and share so that we can start building our network up again on this platform 🔬

Prospective PhD applicants have a range of scholarships available (in addition to "fully funded" project-specific adverts). Some go to the highest academic achievers, but some are for those with strong potential who may not yet have had the opportunity to realise that potential. Thread w list: [1/7]

Check out the RMS Early Career Award, open now for applicants across the disciplines of microscopy, image analysis and cytometry! 🔬🧪✨ Deadline: 14th February 2025

It was a pleasure to co-host (with Dr Hasan Abbas) Sahil Sharma, who visited for a year from IIT Delhi on a Commonwealth Scholarship, to work on SIM and photothermal imaging at mid-infrared wavelengths. Sahil was a fast learner in experimental optics, and made great progress on an ambitious project!

Let me launch this account by sharing my excitement about our new Wellcome Trust funded project using FLIM-FRET tension sensors for live biophotonic measurements of intercellular forces in the beating zebrafish heart. With Emily Noel @ Sheffield, and @jvermot.bsky.social. Excited for results soon!