NordForsk (www.nordforsk.org), an organization that facilitates research cooperation and infrastructure development in Nordic countries, has granted Bridging Nordic Microscopy Infrastructure a total of 2.5 Million NOK for 3 years. The participating countries in this consortium are Norway (coordinating Hub), Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland.
Bridging Nordic Microscopy Infrastructure (BNMI) is a network of national imaging infrastructures offering open access to biological imaging technologies in participating Nordic countries. BNMI partners include Norwegian Molecular Imaging Consortium (NorMIC) and Norwegian Advanced Light Microscopy Imaging Network (NALMIN), National Microscopy Infrastructure (NMI) in Sweden, Finnish Advanced Light Microscopy Node (FiALM), Danish BioImaging (DBI) Network and BioMedical Center of University of Iceland (BMC-UI).
The funding will be used to strengthen international competitiveness and facilitate the development of world-leading Nordic advanced microscopy environments by supporting several levels of training, from electron and light microscopy to image analysis. Training will be delivered via scientific and technical symposia, workshops, courses and knowledge exchange seminars. BNMI plans to attract talented researchers and staff of imaging facilities to Nordic countries by coordinating two mobility programs: A job shadowing program for facility staff will facilitate the exchange of experience and sharing of ideas. A short-term scientific program for PhD students and early career investigators will see researchers stay at their destination of choice in a Nordic country for up to 2 weeks.
Dissemination and outreach will be done by organizing open days and being active on social media as well as the BNMI website. Symposia and workshops will also be used as platforms for disseminating breakthroughs in emerging imaging technologies and fostering collaborations. All participating countries have already established infrastructures and network organizations at the national level that provide a full spectrum of biological imaging tools easily accessible for both the academic sector and industry. These are also united under the Euro-Bioimaging European Research Infrastructure Consortium leading the whole of Europe to work toward excellence in research.
