Large infrastructure bioimaging project enters preparatory phase

Euro-BioImaging, one of the EU’s large scientific infrastructure projects, has begun a three year preparation phase, with the aim of providing scientists throughout Europe with open access to state-of-the-art imaging technologies, at all levels of biological and biomedical research, across the research continuum from bench to bedside.

The project is part of the European Commission’s European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) roadmap.

During the three years of preparation Euro-BioImaging will develop a plan to construct and operate a set of complementary and integrated imaging facilities. The plan will be based on a comprehensive assessment of researchers’ needs in terms of access, service, and training. Euro-BioImaging will also establish the legal, governmental and financial framework for the project and seek agreements with funding bodies. Eligibility criteria for participating facilities will be defined, an independent evaluation panel will be established, and a call for applications will be announced.

“Euro-BioImaging will support research, training and innovation in biological and biomedical imaging on a pan-European level, by providing imaging services with an overarching strategic plan,” says Jan Ellenberg from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the scientific coordinator for biological imaging.

“Given the broad range of imaging technologies coordinated through Euro-BioImaging, the research infrastructure will facilitate the translation from basic results to medical applications,” says Stefan Schönberg from the University Medical Centre Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim, scientific coordinator for biomedical imaging on behalf of the European Institute for Biomedical Imaging Research (EIBIR).

As one of the project’s aims is to keep Europe at the forefront of technological innovation in this area, commercial opportunities are expected to arise. To make the most of them when they do, Euro-BioImaging has already started to form an industry board in which all leading vendors and producers of biomedical imaging equipment in Europe are represented.