EBIB Anniversary: We need to work very closely to understand the needs of the community

Interview with Dr. Herbert Schaden, EBIB Coordinator

On the occasion of the 10^th Anniversary of the Euro-BioImaging Industry Board, we today hear from Herbert Schaden at ZEISS why the Industry Board is such a great platform for interaction with the Imaging Community, but also with other companies in the sector. (watch the teaser here). Herbert Schaden has been a member of the Industry Board from the beginning, but since 2021 has stepped up his engagement and was elected first co-chair and then chair of the EBIB. Herbert’s strategic vision helps Euro-BioImaging shape the many different forms of collaboration with industry for mutual benefit and lead the Board in joint activities.

Herbert, as the current chair of the Euro-BioImaging Industry Board, how would you describe the Board's role in supporting the research infrastructure? What are your current priorities and focus areas? 

It is important to permanently understand the need and challenges of the research infrastructure related to the EBIB portfolio. For that we have to establish and maintain a regular communication, of course also on the country level, which means between Nodes and company representatives in the respective countries.

One of the priorities always is to assure high-level trained facility staff to best make use of the microscope systems. Another important focus area is the management and analysis of the image data. Here we need to better collaborate for a mutual understanding of the opportunities and limitations of what can be delivered from both sides.

What are some of the key ways in which ZEISS, as a major imaging instrument manufacturer, has collaborated with Euro-BioImaging over the past decade? Has this partnership evolved and how much have both sides benefited in your view? 

There are several ways in which collaborations with Nodes of facilities of Euro-BioImaging have been established: running joint training courses or workshops on new technologies and applications, jointly starting and establishing a user community for Correlative Light and Electron Microscopy (CorrMIC), with an even global outreach. For example, EMBL, The Crick, VIB and ZEISS are organising a biannual CorrMIC symposium since 2011 with high success.

By all these and more interactions we, as a company, learn about the actual and future market needs. This is the basis for and leads to new and relevant innovations, which brings obvious benefits for both sides: new technologies for driving research constantly forward and of course commercial benefit for the company. This again allows higher investments in R&D and of course high-level long-term services and support for our customers.

In your experience, what is the contribution of the Industry Board in facilitating knowledge sharing, technology transfer and other forms of mutually beneficial collaboration? 

The Industry Board offers different learning platforms. Some examples are the Tech Exchange which is the presentation of new technologies to the community after the weekly Virtual Pub of Euro-BioImaging. There are also a number of online learning platforms where our users can find courses, tutorials, videos and so on, there's a broad outreach to a big community. 

For a number of microscope systems, light and electron microscopy, we introduced remote access and control, which facilitates the work of our users.

In addition, there is the possibility to work together along the development process by alpha or beta testing of instruments or joint application development. 

And last but not least, we offer also the possibility for students during their master, study phase to work as internships for several months in our companies.

What makes Euro-BioImaging and the EBIB unique as a platform for companies to engage with the imaging community?

Some microscopy industry partners participated already early in the concept phase of Euro-BioImaging and could contribute in the meetings. With that a high level of trust already grew over time. Today, the Industry Board is actually well organised and coordinated and represents to the Euro-BioImaging community a broad and relevant portfolio of instrumentation and application development. Within the Board, we actually work strong along the legal and compliance rules and with each other we work with a really high level of respect. This is well recognized by Euro-BioImaging and gives even more trust to interact.

Has the Industry Board's role and approach adapted to address the changing needs and priorities of both industry and the Euro-BioImaging infrastructure over time? Which changes do you see? 

For sure this has changed over the years. As the scientific market is highly dynamic also in terms of technology needs, industry has to adapt accordingly and drive innovation jointly with the input from communities such as Euro-BioImaging ERIC. Not only on the hardware side - a more actual example is the role of software solutions, AI/deep learning and smart workflow development. Here the close and open exchange between industry and researchers is essential. We could jointly run workshops and establish permanent working groups for these topics. Another major change is the way we work. More online meetings are established, also for training with offerings sessions remotely and digital training materials (videos, tutorials, webinars). Also, technical service online/remotely leads to faster reaction and repair time. VR is a great tool for even allow technical service training online.

Looking ahead, what do you see as the biggest opportunities and challenges for strengthening the industry partnership within Euro-BioImaging and its facilities in the coming years? 

I would mention the new Strategy Plan 2024-2028 of Euro-BioImaging ERIC, which we from the industry side could review and give input into. There are a number of goals that we can and will focus on, e.g. to promote scientific innovation, transfer of technical knowledge, and support strong industry partnerships. In a nutshell, the new Strategy Plan is the perfect platform for intensifying the existing partnership of Euro-BioImaging and its Industry Board.

Let me mention just two focus areas: 

• The first is image data management, which is increasingly challenging for both for industry and for the scientific community. There we need to work very close together, even closer as before, to better understand the actual and future needs of the community and how we jointly can develop solutions to address these needs. 
• The second focus area is again training, but on the next level. There is a project called EVOLVE started in March 2024, where we have additional opportunities to work together in modern, training collaborations and levels, between industry and the community.

Do you have a favourite memory from your long history of involvement with the Euro-BioImaging Industry Board? 

The Industry Board did grow over this long period, bringing not only microscopy supplier into the Board, but also companies offering portfolios beyond microscopes. This is important for the community. Most important for me is, that we, despite being on one hand strong competitors, in fact work together with high respect for each other, of course along all compliance rules. The overall goal is to permanently improve our individual services from Industry to the community. This way of interacting has nicely developed over the long history.