High-tech microscopy training course for European PhD students

On 3-7 December 2018 Institute of Physics, University of Tartu hosted a group of interntional PhD students for an intensive training course in using different types of high tech microscopes to study surface morphology and adhesion.

The training course was organized in the framework of European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) network "European Network of BioAdhesion Expertise". The network unites physicists, chemists, biologists and engineers from 33 countries in the pursuit of understanding the abilities of biological organisms to attach permanently or temporarily to surfaces. Various organisms have developed mechanisms of adhesion that operate in a wide temperature range, wet or dry environment, and on surfaces with different coatings. Understanding these mechanisms on a microscopic level, including the composition and structure of the materials, was well as the interaction with surfaces, is of great interest in science and can lead to useful technological applications.

The training course was conducted by Sergei Vlassov and Rünno Lõhmus, senior research fellows at the Laboratory of the Physics of Nanostructures, who are experts in the manipulation and charactrerization of single nanostructures. Lectures and practical training lessons gave an overview of scanning eleltron microscopy and atomic force microscopy.

According to Sergei Vlassov the institute possesses world class equipment and a set of competencies that are hard to find elsewhere. For this reason Tartu was chosen as the training venue by the COST network. Most of the participants of the course were PhD students in biology, who want to learn and apply the methods of modern microscopy in their research. The participants were happy about the course and some of them would consider coming back to Tartu as a postdoc.

The training course participant Daniele Liprandi writes: "Bioadhesion is a problem which, contrary to what the name suggests, involves much more than just animals sticking to a roof. Nature shows us a huge variety of geometries and materials, which often are hierarchical and/or have heterogeneous properties. To better understand what happens at the nanoscale of these problems, the microscopic and investigative techniques that we learned at the training school organized by Prof. Vlassov are of extremely high importance. We were able to observe and understand which are the challenges when trying to obtain the topography of an anemone's foot or the young's modulus of a bear hair. I will surely have from now on a more investigative look on biomaterials and bioadhesives, and I will question myself about the possibilities that nanomanipulation gives us above natural structures."

More information:

Sergei Vlassov, sergei.vlassov [ät] ut.ee
Rünno Lõhmus, rynno.lohmus [ät] ut.ee