Our facility provides state-of-the-art microscopy techniques for the characterisation and analysis of life science and material science projects. In the domain of electron microscopy, we offer a comprehensive suite of solutions, encompassing both scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM & TEM), focused ion beam SEM, cryo-TEM, and elemental analytics on both SEMs. In the light microscopy facility, we provide a high-end brightfield + fluorescence microscope with temperature control, a confocal laser scanning microscope also with temperature control, a darkfield spectrometric microscope and a Raman confocal system. We can offer additional services, including advice on experiment design, resin embedding, ultramicrotomy and image post-processing. 

Selected publications: 

Vanhecke, D.; Nyengaard, J. R.; Haenni, B.; Schipke, J.; Ochs, M. Ultrastructural Analysis of Lamellar Bodies in Type II Alveolar Epithelial Cells in the Human Lung. Am. J. Physiol.-Lung Cell. Mol. Physiol. 2025, 328 (1), L113–L119. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajplung.00284.2024. 

Vanhecke, D.; Crippa, F.; Lattuada, M.; Balog, S.; Rothen-Rutishauser, B.; Petri-Fink, A. Characterization of the Shape Anisotropy of Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles during Thermal Decomposition. Materials 2020, 13 (9), 2018. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13092018. 

Vanhecke, D.; Rodríguez-Lorenzo, L.; Kinnear, C.; Durantie, E.; Rothen-Rutishauser, B.; Petri-Fink, A. Assumption-Free Morphological Quantification of Single Anisotropic Nanoparticles and Aggregates. Nanoscale 2017, 9 (15), 4918–4927. https://doi.org/10.1039/C6NR07884B.