Recognising the importance and impact of Imaging Scientists: Global guidelines for establishing career paths within core facilities

Recognising the importance and impact of Imaging Scientists: Global guidelines for establishing career paths within core facilities

Journal of Microscopy

10.1111/jmi.13307

http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jmi.13307

Graham D. Wright, Kerry A. Thompson, Yara Reis, Johanna Bischof, Philip Edward Hockberger, Michelle S. Itano, Lisa Yen, Stephen Taiye Adelodun, Nikki Bialy, Claire M. Brown, Linda Chaabane, Teng‐Leong Chew, Andrew I. Chitty, Fabrice P. Cordelières, Mariana De Niz, Jan Ellenberg, Lize Engelbrecht, Eunice Fabian‐Morales, Elnaz Fazeli, Julia Fernandez‐Rodriguez, Elisa Ferrando‐May, Georgina Fletcher, Graham John Galloway, Adan Guerrero, Jander Matos Guimarães, Caron A. Jacobs, Sachintha Jayasinghe, Eleanor Kable, Gregory T Kitten, Shinya Komoto, Xiaoxiao Ma, Jéssica Araújo Marques, Bryan A. Millis, Kildare Miranda, Peter JohnO'Toole, Sunday Yinka Olatunji, Federica Paina, Cora Noemi Pollak, Clara Prats, Joanna W. Pylvänäinen, Mai Atef Rahmoon, Michael A. Reiche, James Douglas Riches, Andres Hugo Rossi, Jean Salamero, Caroline Thiriet, Stefan Terjung, Aldenora dos Santos Vasconcelos, Antje Keppler

core facilty, careers, recognition, bioimaging, imaging scientist, microscopy

01 May 2024

Wright, G. D., Thompson, K. A., Reis, Y., Bischof, J., Hockberger, P. E., Itano, M. S., Yen, L., Adelodun, S. T., Bialy, N., Brown, C. M., Chaabane, L., Chew, T., Chitty, A. I., Cordelières, F. P., De Niz, M., Ellenberg, J., Engelbrecht, L., Fabian‐Morales, E., Fazeli, E., … Keppler, A. (2024). Recognising the importance and impact of Imaging Scientists: Global guidelines for establishing career paths within core facilities. Journal of Microscopy, 294(3), 397–410. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmi.13307

In the dynamic landscape of scientific research, imaging core facilities are vital hubs propelling collaboration and innovation at the technology development and dissemination frontier. Here, we present a collaborative effort led by Global BioImaging (GBI), introducing international recommendations geared towards elevating the careers of Imaging Scientists in core facilities. Despite the critical role of Imaging Scientists in modern research ecosystems, challenges persist in recognising their value, aligning performance metrics and providing avenues for career progression and job security. The challenges encompass a mismatch between classic academic career paths and service‐oriented roles, resulting in a lack of understanding regarding the value and impact of Imaging Scientists and core facilities and how to evaluate them properly. They further include challenges around sustainability, dedicated training opportunities and the recruitment and retention of talent. Structured across these interrelated sections, the recommendations within this publication aim to propose globally applicable solutions to navigate these challenges. These recommendations apply equally to colleagues working in other core facilities and research institutions through which access to technologies is facilitated and supported. This publication emphasises the pivotal role of Imaging Scientists in advancing research programs and presents a blueprint for fostering their career progression within institutions all around the world.

Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

This research / project is supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) - SingaScope (NRF2017_SISFP10)
Grant Reference no. : NRF2017_SISFP10

This research / project is supported by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative - N/A
Grant Reference no. : 020-225445 598, 210874, GBI-0000000093, 2021−240504, NP2-000000006,2020–225398, 2019–198107, 2020–2023, DAF2021-225

This research / project is supported by the ANR - N/A
Grant Reference no. : NR-10-INBS-04-01

This research / project is supported by the UKRI-BBSRC - N/A
Grant Reference no. : BB/S018689/1

This research / project is supported by the DGAPA-PAPIIT - N/A
Grant Reference no. : IN211821

This research / project is supported by the JSPS KAKENH - N/A
Grant Reference no. : JP22H04926

https://oar.a-star.edu.sg/communities-collections/articles/15398

0022-2720
1365-2818

Research Support Centre (RSC)

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jmi.13307