Introducing Euro-BioImaging’s 2021 Annual Report

We are very pleased to share our second Annual Report! This Annual Report highlights the progress of Euro-BioImaging towards reaching its strategic objectives in its second year of operations. It contains key achievements, user testimonies, a summary of our funded projects, an overview of the excellent science performed at our Nodes, and quotes and snapshots from our community. Browse through it - and you will meet our key players – the Hub team, the Nodes, our users, and our governing body chairs. Read it - and you will discover what we have achieved together in 2021– despite the continuing pandemic situation.

We really hope you will take the time to read through this document. For your reading enjoyment, we’ve created an interactive PDF, accessible below. You can also view and download the document as a PDF here.

Summary

In 2021, we successfully continued operations of the first pan-European research infrastructure for imaging technologies, showing the world that Euro-BioImaging ERIC is open and ready for business. We worked towards the milestones that were set out for us in our strategic plan, and are still amazed by the impressive expansion of our infrastructure – and the breathtaking rate at which our infrastructure has scaled with the addition of eight new Nodes and 1 new member country in 2021 alone.

Key achievements

One of the accomplishments we are particularly proud of is the increase in user activity between 2020-2021. This is partly a result of pandemic restrictions being lifted - or at least relaxed - in combination with innovative measures introduced by our Nodes to provide remote access services. But the 2.5 fold increase in user requests was also bolstered by the Italian User Access Fund and the pilot User Access fund. We highlight these initiatives in the Annual Report.

Another major achievement in 2021 was working alongside our partner life science research infrastructures and our Nodes, to respond to Horizon Europe calls and contribute to the European research framework of the next years with a focus on infectious diseases, cancer, agroecology and FAIR data sharing. In early 2022, we learned that our hard work on these proposals had paid off and together we have secured close to 1.4 million euros for transnational user projects with a focus on imaging.

This funding will be used to advance research across Europe. In the Excellent Science section of our Annual Report we share just a few examples of work accomplished at our Nodes in 2021 to shed light on SARS-COV-2, Cancer, Neurology, Cardiovascular Health, Marine Biology, Inflammation and Plant biology.

But we never could have done any of these things if we weren’t driven by the passion and amazing vitality of our Nodes and supported by our governing bodies.

From our Nodes

So, in our Annual Report, we have included snapshots from our Nodes and the facilities that make up the Euro-BioImaging family, to provide some insight into what daily life is like.

We’ve also included pages highlighting some of the Nodes’ key outreach activities, in particular with the public at large.

And of course, we’ve included a short report from each of our Nodes, with highlights from 2021 and an overview of the size and scope of the Node. And Quotes from our Node coordinators give us an event better feeling of what 2021 was like for all.

Our Governance

We also want to take this occasion to thank our Board, for guiding us in the direction of fulfilling our strategic and operational goals, and our Scientific Advisory Board, so important in helping our infrastructure to scale rationally. Our Annual Report includes a Governance section to introduce some of the people that make up the Euro-BioImaging governance and explains how the different governing bodies work together to ensure our infrastructure functions smoothly.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to those who contributed to the conceptualization of this document, to writing it and proofreading it. A huge thanks to our designer, Solveig Eriksson, whose brilliant design work made our story come to life. And many thanks to all of those who contributed from the Nodes, the Board, the Scientific Advisory Board, the Industry Board and beyond. What an exciting year!