Latest eBIC news

We are pleased to announce SCAUP, a new sample and shipping service to all eBIC users. Now integrated with eBIC PATo, the new Cryo-EM sample and shipping management system offers a streamlined way to record, track, and optimize your experiments. Built specifically for Cryo-EM workflows at eBIC, users can quickly annotate sample details—such as grid type, grid box, and puck type—using intuitive drop-down menus. The new shipping service is intuitive and faster to set up, making your session preparation smoother than ever.

With the newly introduced Sample and Shipping service (SCAUP), users can make more informed decisions based on sample-specific processing statistics. Track sample locations, input imaging parameters like magnification and dose, and directly link processing data to sample conditions—all in one place.

The system doubles as an e-notebook, enabling easy export of comprehensive metadata for your eBIC sessions. Smarter, faster, and fully integrated—PATo and SCAUP take your Cryo-EM session planning and execution to the next level!

For further information on the latest updates, contact details, and step-by-step instructions, please click box below:

May 2026

The electron Bio-Imaging Centre (eBIC) has expanded its senior team with the appointment of Principal Electron Microscopist Vojtěch Prazak. Vojta Pražák brings a strong background in integrative structural cell biology, specializing in cryo-electron tomography (cryoET) and subtomogram averaging to dissect host-pathogen interactions. He joins the facility following postdoctoral work within the teams of Lindsay Baker in Oxford and Kay Grünewald in Oxford and Hamburg. He looks forward to applying this background at eBIC to help strengthen the facility’s in situ and correlative capabilities, translating challenging structural questions into robust, routine workflows.

This appointment marks a strategic push to make advanced, native-context workflows more routine and accessible for researchers studying how filamentous pathogens interact with their plant and animal hosts. This builds upon active, ongoing collaborative projects with key UK research groups in the field, including those led by Neil Gow (University of Exeter), Paul Birch (University of Dundee), Pieter van West (University of Aberdeen), and Tolga Bozkurt (Imperial College London). Vojta has substantial expertise in correlative cryo-FIB lift-out and cryo serial-sectioning for thicker tissues, while also driving the development of super-resolution cryoET to localize rare molecular events via accessible workflows like cryo SOFI and Vulcrom developed with Rainer Kaufmann (University of Hamburg).

Alongside imaging infrastructure, Vojta is integrating laboratory sustainability into eBIC's daily operations. Recognizing that high-end electron microscopy is resource-intensive, he focuses on practical, day-to-day initiatives to reduce laboratory waste and build greener habits into institutional workflows.

April 2026

We were delighted to host our annual Biological Cryo‑Imaging (BCI) User Meeting on 22nd April at the East Midlands Conference Centre (EMCC) in Nottingham. The meeting provided an opportunity for delegates to hear about the latest developments at eBIC and B24, learn about cutting‑edge research being carried out by our user community, and contribute to discussions shaping the future direction of biological cryo‑imaging at Diamond.

We would like to thank Alfred Fernández Castañé (Aston University) for presenting his research using correlative microscopy completed at B24 to study magnetotactic bacteria. It was inspiring to see the science being enabled by access to Diamond’s facilities.

We also thank Richard Collins (University of Manchester), Diamond User Committee (DUC) representative, for chairing an engaging and insightful user meeting discussion and stimulating constructive dialogue between attendees and scientists at Diamond. This discussion session provided valuable insight into user priorities for eBIC and B24, including demand for specific imaging and sample preparation techniques, approaches to data processing and archiving, and preferred routes for communication and engagement with the facilities.

In the evening, delegates enjoyed a drinks and buffet reception followed by a ceilidh hosted by Blackbeard’s Tea Party. As always, this networking event offered an excellent opportunity to reconnect with colleagues and establish new collaborations.

We are grateful to our sponsors for making the event possible — Agar Scientific, Dectris, Gatan, JEOL, Nanosoft, Nuclera, Quantifoil, Subangstrom and Thermo Fisher Scientific — and thank Dave Farmer for once again capturing the meeting through his excellent photography.

We are delighted to continue hosting the BCI user meeting alongside CCP-EM’s Spring Symposium, jointly coordinating logistics for one of the largest European forums for disseminating new developments in cryo-EM. Together, these events welcomed 311 in-person delegates and 489 virtual participants this year.

At this year’s CCP‑EM Spring Symposium (23–24 April), the scientific programme showcased emerging approaches in sample preparation, including time‑resolved vitrification and accelerated lamella fabrication, alongside advances in data processing tools. Talks highlighted methods for feature detection and the increasing use of AI and machine learning to support cryo‑EM and cryo‑ET workflows. We were pleased to see Éilís Bragginton and Christian Orr present their work on accelerating cryo-FIB sample preparation with femtosecond laser for lamella, which received lots of interest from attendees.

The symposium also featured two poster sessions displaying over one hundred posters, reflecting the breadth and vitality of current cryo‑EM research. Poster prizes were awarded to Alice Brinkworth (University College London) in session one and Varun Ramaswamy (Institute of Cancer Research) in session two. Thank you to Peijun Zhang, Werner Kühlbrandt and Alexey Amunts for sitting on the judging panel for the Karen Davies Poster Prize this year, which they awarded to Sreehari Gopinathan from Bertram Daum’s lab at the University of Exeter. The Karen Davies Prize, established by Diamond, is intended to commemorate Karen’s work and celebrate her life. It is awarded annually for the best poster presented at the CCP-EM Spring Symposium.