GloBIAS blog series

We aim to publish reflections and outcomes from the different workgroups on a bi-monthly schedule on this page. 

March 2025

Shaping the BioImage Analyst Community in East Asia: EABIAS

By Shao-Chun (Peggy) Hsu

As an imaging scientist in Taiwan for over 14 years, I had been working in isolation without the support of communities, relying primarily on self-learning to develop my skills. However, this began to change in 2024. Bioimage analysts from Taiwan and Japan came together to establish EABIAS, thanks to the efforts of Cheng-Yu, an image analyst studying in the UK. Born in Japan and raised in Taiwan, Cheng-Yu played a key role in connecting us.

With an introduction from “Mr. Japan” Kota Miura and financial support from GloBIAS, I had the honour of attending the first GloBIAS in-person workshop held in Gothenburg. 

Before the event, I was assigned to two working groups—one focused on studying the image analysis workflow from an assigned paper, and the other on hosting the career path session. To prepare, I attended two online meetings per week, making this the most intensive pre-workshop preparation I had ever experienced. Yet, it was absolutely worth it! Through these regular online meetings, I connected with bioimage analysts from various countries and also experienced how networking can be fostered through dedicated activities.

For the first time, I felt part of a like-minded community. I also realized that collaboration makes everything more enjoyable. Having spent years promoting image analysis at National Taiwan University, I began to ask myself: How could I reach more people through networking? One thing became clear—we need more bioimage analysts working together in Taiwan. 

On my long journey home, I started reaching out to friends working in core facilities across Taiwan, sharing the education materials generously provided by the community and discussing the possibility of organizing a local course series led by us. In our first year, we will start with ImageJ, the most widely used image analysis tool, laying the foundation for transitioning to Python in the second year. 

The first local workshop organized by EABIAS—ImageJ Micro-Image Analysis and Programming—will take place every Monday afternoon for seven weeks, starting on March 3rd. The course will be conducted in Chinese, and we still have available slots for online participants. If you prefer learning in your native language, we warmly invite you to join us!

More information:

• ImageJ Micro-Image Analysis and Programming 

• EABIAS

January 2025 

GloBIAS Seminar Series 

by Caterina Fuster-Barceló 

Over the last few months, the Education and Training group has launched an exciting new initiative: the GloBIAS Seminar Series. This series is designed to support bioimage analysts and the broader community with informative talks that highlight the latest tools, software, and innovations in bioimage analysis. It's also a space for learning, sharing, and connecting. Inspired by initiatives like the Euro-BioImaging Virtual Pub, we recognized a strong interest in having a dedicated platform for presenting and discussing topics in bioimage analysis.

The GloBIAS Seminar Series will feature one seminar during the last week of each month, with presentations scheduled across different time zones to accommodate diverse audiences. Each quarter will focus on a specific theme, allowing us to delve deeper into key topics over three consecutive months. This approach ensures both continuity and a range of perspectives on each topic before moving on to the next.

In the first quarter, we focused on “LLMs for Bioimage Analysis,” featuring presentations by Robert Haase, Caterina Fuster-Barceló, and Loïc Alain Royer. They each showcased unique tools and approaches for integrating large language models (LLMs) into bioimage analysis. Recordings of these sessions are available on our YouTube channel.

Our current theme is Infrastructure for Deploying Image Analysis Workflows. So far, we've had Ankur Kumar present on “Designing and Implementing Systems to Process Petabyte-Scale Imaging Datasets,” and Christian Tischer discussing “NextFlow for Bioimage Analysis.” Coming up, we’re excited to have Beatriz Serrano-Solano join us on Wednesday, February 26, 2025, from 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm CET to discuss “Image Analysis Using Galaxy.” This session promises to be an excellent addition to our line-up!

We encourage presenters and participants alike to continue any unanswered questions or discussions in the Image.sc forum, a platform open to the entire community. Ongoing conversations led by Robert Haase and Caterina Fuster-Barceló can be found here and here.

There are many more topics on the horizon, and we invite you to join the workgroup, suggest ideas, or even propose talks. Thank you all of you for being part of the journey!

Don’t forget to register!