Pre-Congress Workshops

Session chairs: Ian MacLaren, Stephanie Ribet and Colin Ophus

4D-STEM is transforming imaging in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), offering far greater flexibility in extracting structural and phase information than conventional STEM. This workshop will introduce core principles of data acquisition and detectors, then focus on practical 4D-STEM workflows for data processing and interpretation, including machine-learning-enabled methods. We will cover nanobeam applications with well-separated diffraction discs at low STEM probe convergence angles, including crystal phase, orientation, and strain mapping. We will also cover high-convergence conditions, where overlapping discs enable direct and iterative phase-retrieval approaches such as ptychography. Most of the workshop will be hands-on, using interactive processing notebooks with experimental datasets. Attendees are strongly encouraged to bring a laptop or tablet to follow along with the online tools.

Session chair: Armin Feist, Hugo Lourenço-Martins

This pre-congress workshop will focus on advances in time-resolved electron microscopy and new findings using the method. Photonics, physical, chemical, and materials dynamics spanning attosecond to microsecond timescales are introduced, along with instrumentation for accessing them. This includes ultrafast transmission and scanning electron microscopes, as well as newly developed variants, to capture dynamics via stroboscopic, single-shot electron illumination or fast-frame cameras. A goal of this workshop is to present these methods to researchers entering the field, stimulate discussions on future directions, and foster new ideas within the community.

Session chair: Wu Zhou, Robert Klie and  Juan-Carlos Idrobo

This workshop offers a comprehensive introduction to Electron Energy-Loss Spectroscopy (EELS), covering topics from its fundamental principles to state-of-the-art instrumentation and technique development, as well as advanced applications for probing electronic structure, chemistry, bonding, and quasiparticle excitations at the nanoscale and even at the atomic scale.

Key topics include:
• Fundamentals of EELS: Scattering mechanisms, theoretical modeling
• State-of-the-art instrumentation: Monochromated STEM–EELS, high-energy-resolution systems, advanced detectors, and advanced experimental configurations
• Applications across materials science: Chemical mapping, valence and bonding analysis, dielectric and optical property measurements, phonon, magnon, magnetic and chiral spectroscopy.
• Looking forward: Next-generation monochromators and spectrometers, time-resolved EELS, synergistic integration with 4D-STEM and in situ modalities, and emerging AI/ML-enabled data analysis workflows

Session chairs: Taylor Woehl and Marc-George Willinger

In situ electron microscopy has emerged as a powerful tool for observing nanoscale materials in their native liquid and gas environments. Catalysts and electrocatalysts can be observed in their active state during heterogeneous reactions. In situ electron microscopy can capture how colloidal nanoparticles and polymers self-assemble into functional nanostructures. While phenomenological experiments aim at simply visualizing these nanoscale dynamics have become more common place, quantification of in situ electron microscopy results remains a significant challenge. This workshop brings together leaders from the in situ electron microscopy community to provide tutorial lessons on experimental design of in situ electron microscopy experiments aimed at obtaining quantitative data. Topics of discussion will include dose rate control, liquid flow, temperature control and measurement, simulations of electron beam-sample interactions (e.g., radiolysis, electron beam charging), fitting mathematical models to in situ electron microscopy data, and quantitative image analysis. Specific examples of these methods will be presented, including electrocatalysis, nanomaterial synthesis, catalyst dynamics, and aerosol systems.  

Topics of interest:

-Dose rate measurement and control

-Radiolysis simulations in liquids and gases

-Quantitative image analysis of in situ electron microscopy data

-Mathematical modeling of in situ electron microscopy data

-Correlative analyses and bulk-scale verification

Session chair: Miaofang Chi 

This workshop will explore the cutting-edge field of cryogenic S/TEM, emphasizing recent advances in stable, ultra-low-temperature systems and their integration with 4D-STEM, EELS, and in situ capabilities.

Topics include:

• Recent breakthroughs in LHe-cooled ultracold S/TEM, including both side-entry and polepiece-integrated configurations
• Enhanced stable, double-tilt LN2-cooled stages that improve imaging performance and stability
• Scientific applications: Showcasing how stable cryogenic S/TEM opens new frontiers in quantum materials, energy research, and functional nanomaterials
• Future perspectives: How advances in faster cameras, AI/ML, and reliable specimen preparation and transfer will further strengthen next-generation cryogenic microscopy

This workshop aims to explain the principles of Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) and Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction (TKD). EBSD and TKD are SEM based diffraction techniques, providing information about the local crystal structure of the analysed sample, enabling information about material properties to be extracted.

The workshop will provide information about the evolution of detector hardware and analysis software. Including practical information about how to optimize settings for different types of analysis. This is combined with examples showing how EBSD and TKD can be used in different application areas.

Session chair: Yan Lu (Germany), Tatiana Latychevskaia (Switzerland)

The workshop will cover the fundamental principles of holography for both in-line (Gabor) and off-axis holography types, the experimental realization, reconstruction of holograms, and applications in materials and biological sciences. Participants will gain practical insights into how phase information is recorded and reconstructed to visualize electrostatic and magnetic structures from off-axis holograms or shapes of single proteins from their in-line holograms. The latest advances in experimental methodologies, including operando holography, the combination with automation operation, and other, will be presented.

Session chair: Rama Vasudevan

Artificial intelligence (AI) and the advent of multimodal foundation models are rapidly changing the way microscopy workflows are executed, ranging from experimental design to autonomous operation and real time data processing. This workshop will focus on use of machine learning and AI approaches to analyze microscopy datasets, from training deep learning models for segmentation, to designing active learning loops for autonomous experiments on digital twins. We will further describe processes for knowledge extraction by correlative and machine learning methods with local crystallography and texture analysis applied to atomically resolved STEM datasets.

Session chair: Tong Li and Mattias Thuvander

Atom probe tomography (APT) is a unique method for resolving the chemical identities of individual elements with sub-nanometre resolution in three dimensions. Its application has expanded rapidly from structural metals and alloys to catalyst nanoparticles and battery interphases, driven by advances in instrumentation, specimen preparation methods and data analysis. This workshop will cover the fundamentals of APT and related techniques, the development of data analysis and algorithms, and state-of-the-art cryogenic/specimen preparation methods for advanced materials. A wide range of studies, from structural alloys to energy conversion and storage materials, will be presented to demonstrate APT’s capability for addressing scientific questions in materials research.

Session chair: Darius Pohl and Rolf Erni

This workshop introduces the fundamentals of electrical characterization and transport measurements in TEM, with additional focus on sample preparation challenges. Participants will explore key topics such as electrical transport, battery and electromigration research, ferroelectrics, and advanced semiconductor characterization. Designed for both newcomers and experienced researchers, the workshop highlights state-of-the-art applications and recent advances in TEM-based electrical analysis. Attendees will gain a broad overview of the field, practical insights, and opportunities for discussion with experts, making it ideal for anyone looking to deepen or broaden their understanding of electrical measurements in TEM.

Session chair: Tom Slater, Alex Eggeman, Jon Peters

This workshop is for electron microscopy researchers with little or no coding experience who want to learn, or refresh their understanding of, Python for data acquisition and analysis. Participants will be guided through Python basics, including loading and displaying microscope images, and performing image analysis such as segmentation and measurement for TEM and STEM data. The workshop will also introduce the wider Python ecosystem, covering packages for hardware control, data acquisition, image and spectral analysis, and specialised tools for atomic-resolution and 4D-STEM datasets, enabling attendees to apply Python effectively to their own research workflows.

Session chair: Steve Ludtke (USA), Sjors Scheres (UK)

Cryo-electron microscopy single particle analysis (SPA) and electron tomography have recently become mainstream, but newcomers to the field often encounter challenges in the use of available software tools. In this workshop, we will discuss the current state-of-the-art image processing programs, including emerging software tools for analyzing molecular flexibility in SPA and the imaging of macromolecules in-situ via subtomogram averaging. Instead of running a full tutorial on a single program, we will explain the rationale for selecting among available methods for specific questions and provide the background and skills to confidently get started with existing tutorials.

Session chair: Erin Tranfield and and Matthew Russell

Artifacts in electron microscopy can obscure biological truth, making data interpretation challenging. Some artifacts, like grid contamination, are obvious; others, like sample shrinkage during dehydration, are subtle and harder to detect. The relevance of an artifact depends on the scientific question, but recognizing and accounting for them is essential. This workshop combines talks and round table discussions to explore how artifacts arise—from live sample to final image—we will highlight real-world examples and share troubleshooting strategies. Join us to sharpen your artifact awareness, learn from the community and improve the reliability of your EM data.

Session chair: Stefania Marcotti (UK)

Recent advancements in microscopy technology have revolutionised our ability to routinely acquire complex, multi-dimensional image datasets. However, gaps remain in the effective analysis of this data, primarily due to frequent reliance on qualitative, manual image assessments, which lack the precision, reproducibility, and scalability that automated, quantitative analysis can provide.

To bridge this gap, this workshop is designed to empower researchers with the necessary foundational skills to start confidently analysing their data. Participants will be introduced to open-source tools such as FIJI and Ilastik, and to methodologies for automating their image analyses, thus enhancing research precision, efficiency, and reproducibility.

Session chair: Sylvie Le Guyader (Sweden) and Rhonda Powell (USA)

This workshop is designed for those who train light microscopy end-users.
During this workshop, you will work on improving the design of your own training, using well-established principles of pedagogy. You will leave the workshop with a curated list of Learning Objectives specific to your own training. You will hear tips about how to train just any type of users. 

Session chair: Bruno Humbel (Japan), Alison J. Beckett (UK) and Jiří Týč (Czechia)

This workshop is dedicated to the state of the art of volume microscopy, including array tomography, serial block face SEM and focused ion-beam SEM. The workshop will take place at the Central Teaching HUB of the University of Liverpool. This will allow for demonstration of array tomography sectioning at the microtomes and live image acquisition via a video link to the Lab of Alison Beckett. In addition, we will invite speakers to cover the topics of sample preparation, array tomography, SBF-SEM and FIB-SEM. Further, we will try to attract a specialist in image analysis, segmentation of the 3D volumes and 3D visualisation. The workshop will take a full day to fit the tight programme of demonstrations and lectures. Due to the space constraints, we can accept a max 12 delegates for the hands-on but more for the lectures.

Session chair: Sergey Kapishnikov (Ireland)

This presentation-based workshop provides a comprehensive overview of state-of-the-art X-ray microscopy (XRM) for bioimaging. Through a series of focused lectures, you will gain knowledge required to plan, execute, and interpret successful XRM experiments. The session covers understanding the strengths and limitations of laboratory and synchrotron platforms, strategies for sample preparation for achieving high-quality results, and the data pipeline from image acquisition to quantitative analysis. Through real-world case studies, you will learn how XRM is applied in contemporary biological research, equipping you with the foundational understanding to leverage this powerful technique for your own projects.