Governance

Euro-BioImaging ERIC operates through the dedicated efforts of a diverse group of stakeholders spanning multiple countries, actively engaged in guiding, deciding, and advising on our daily operations. Explore below to learn more about our Operational Structure, Governing Bodies, and Advisory Bodies.

Operational Structure

Hubs

The coordination of Euro-BioImaging is divided into a tripartite Hub: the Statutory Seat in Turku, Finland, a community-specific Bio-Hub for biological imaging at EMBL in Heidelberg, and a community-specific Med-Hub for biomedical imaging in Torino, Italy. The tripartite Hub jointly provides general supporting services, including the management of user access, policy and lobbying, community and skill-building activities, and services for image data.

Member States

Euro-BioImaging comprises 18 Member states and the EMBL. Countries are continuously invited to consider supporting and becoming members of Euro-BioImaging ERIC, and if you have questions about this, please feel free to contact us directly. Countries can join the ERIC in an observing role first if they prefer to. You can find a list of our member states here.

Nodes

Our distributed infrastructure is built on existing national and international facilities of excellence in imaging technologies. These facilities are bundled into collections called Nodes. Member countries host either a single or several Nodes. You can find a comprehensive list of our 41 Nodes here.

Facilities

The Nodes provide access to 192 specialised imaging facilities located in Europe and beyond. These facilities provide physical or remote access to imaging technologies, deliver training, and, with their experienced staff, support users at all stages of their research projects. You can find a list of the current facilities accessible through our infrastructure here.

Governing Bodies

Euro-BioImaging Board

The Euro-BioImaging Board is the principal governing body of Euro-BioImaging ERIC, approving all strategic and financial decisions in addition to overseeing the performance of the Hub and Nodes with input from the Scientific Advisory Board and the Hub Directorate. It is composed of representatives of Member and Observer countries, where only the former have the right to vote.

Directorate

The Euro-BioImaging Tripartite Hub is managed by a Directorate consisting of a Director-General, who is the legal representative of Euro-BioImaging ERIC at the Statutory Seat, a Section Director of the Bio-Hub and a Section Director of the Med-Hub.

John Eriksson is the Director General based at the Statutory Seat in Turku, Finland.

Antje Keppler is the Section Director of the Bio-Hub, based at the EMBL in Heidelberg, Germany.

Linda Chaabane is the Section Director of the Med-Hub, based in Turin, Italy.

Our Directorate promotes the research infrastructure at a national and international level. The Director General is responsible for the day-to-day management and coordination of Euro-BioImaging ERIC in collaboration with the Section Directors. The Section Directors represent the interests of biological and biomedical communities, respectively.

Advisory Bodies

Scientific Advisory Board (SAB)

Chair: Ian Smith, Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Co-Chair: Philip Hockberger, Associate professor of physiology, Feinberg School of Medicine (FSM), Northwestern University, Chicago, USA

The 14 members of the SAB oversee the scientific, ethical, technical, and management quality of Euro-BioImaging ERIC activities. The SAB members are highly qualified, internationally recognised scientists and ethical experts chosen based on their competencies by the Directorate, in consultation with Euro-BioImaging Members, and appointed by the Euro-BioImaging Board.

Panel of Nodes (PoN)

Chair: Marc van Zandvoort, Professor at Maastricht University
Co-Chair: Julia Fernandez-Rodriguez, Head of the Centre for Cellular Imaging, University of Gothenburg and President of the Core Technologies for Life Sciences

The Euro-BioImaging Panel of Nodes comprises an official representative of each of the Euro-BioImaging Nodes. The Euro-BioImaging Panel of Nodes is constituted to provide advice to the Directorate concerning Euro-BioImaging ERIC activities, especially all matters related to service delivery at the Nodes, such as physical user access, training activities, testing new imaging technologies, image data management, and Euro-BioImaging Hub activities and services supporting Nodes in their role as access providers. To do so, the Panel of Node Co-Chairs, Marc van Zandvoort and Julia Fernandez-Rodriguez hold monthly meetings with the Euro-BioImaging Directorate.

Euro-BioImaging Industry Board Advisory Panel

The Euro-BioImaging Industry Board (EBIB) Advisory Panel constitutes an Advisory Body to the Euro-BioImaging Directorate. Its primary function is to provide expert, strategic advice from an industry point of view on issues such as its Strategic Plan, service and technology priorities, collaboration with other European and global initiatives, industry engagement, and other industry-relevant topics. The Advisory Panel is chaired by the acting Industry Board chair. More details can be found here.