Working Group 1
Quality Assessment and Reproducibility for Instruments & Images in Light Microscopy
The Consortium for Quality Assessment and Reproducibility for Instruments and Images in Light Microscopy (QUAREP-LiMi), formed by the global community of practitioners, researchers, developers, service providers, funders, publishers, policy makers and industry related to the use of light microscopy, is committed to democratizing access to quantitative and reproducible light microscopy and the data generated by it.
Our mission is to provide a comprehensive set of community-agreed guidelines, protocols, automation procedures and other resources aimed at improving quality control, quality assurance, and instrument/method calibration. The stakeholders advocate for the use of the highest level of reproducibility for data generated by light microscopy methods in scientific research and biotechnology applications. In support of achieving its mission, QUAREP-LiMi:
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sanctions Working Groups to form teams that focus on specific technical or outreach topics;
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maintains, disseminates, and teaches best practices, protocols, and software tools; and
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collaborates with providers of reference materials or instrumentation or other tools that enable the easy implementation of best practices at the community level.
We came together in our first online Web meeting on the 28th of April, 2020, with about 50 attendees. By now (24st of April 2024), the network has grown to 620 people from 41 countries worldwide. We have members from academia (research labs, core facilities), national microscopy communities, companies involved in the microscopy business, organizations or institutions related to standardization on a national or international level, and scientific publishers and observers from funding agencies (see the graph below and on the member page for an overview).
Ten working groups (WGs) were established in the 2nd General Meeting on the 9th of July 2020 to bring our common aims quickly forward. Our web page gives an overview of QUAREP-LiMi’s work. In the 3rd General Meeting, WG 11 “Microscopy Publication Standards” and later WGs 12 “Image Visualization and Analysis” and 13 “Phototoxicity” were established. WG 14 “Environment” and 15 “FLIM” are in the process of being established, and WG 8 is restructured to work on “Education, Training and Outreach”.
QUAREP-LiMi operates a NextCloud and an OMERO server, serving as a centralized repository and exchange point for our collective work. These platforms facilitate collaboration and data sharing among our members.
QUAREP-LiMi is absolutely open to new members, and we are looking forward to your contribution. If you are interested in joining our initiative, please fill out our membership form. Use our form for changing your working group (WG) or joining a new WG. For any further questions, please contact us.
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Working Group 2
36th meeting, 13th of November 2023
Meeting date
13/11/2023 @ 5:00 PM (CET/CEST)
Meeting summary
After a short session of QUAREP-LiMi news and updates on our other running projects, we mainly focussed on our planned paper which should accompany the publishing of our protocols. We discussed main aspects, determined topics which need to be addressed and members who our responsible for working on the topics. To be able to have time to do so, we decide to skip the meeting in January 2024.
Working Group 3
Working Group 4
Working Group 5
Working Group 6
Working Group 7
17th meeting, 19th of September 2022
Meeting date
19/09/2022 @ 5:00 PM (CET/CEST)
Meeting summary
The work of QUAREP-WG7 is done within WG7-Subgroups that have clear goals listed on the WG7 homepage (https://quarep.org/working-groups/wg-7-metadata/).
The general meeting serves as a space for reporting back on the progress that has been achieved within the Subgroups, connecting the dots, strategic planning, and general discussions.
This organization allows WG7 to carry out several parallel tasks that span from image metadata model specifications, the development of metadata collection tools, the improvement of the metadata storage formats, and the development of educational and training material to onboard biomedical researchers.
DECISIONS:
- The general organization of WG7 is sound, and it will be maintained.
- To leave more time for Subgroup work and reduce time waste, it was decided that we will reduce the frequency of WG7 general meeting while making Subgroup meetings regular and consistent.
- Specifically, the general meeting will be held on the third Monday once every 2 months —> NEXT GENERAL MEETING will be on 11/21/2022 (17:00 CEST / 11:00 EST)
- The same slot will be utilized as needed by the subgroups. For example, the next WG7-Subgroup 2 meeting will take place on the 17th of October (17:00 CEST / 11:00 EST).
- At the same time, it is essential to improve communication and progress management to make sure people have a clear idea of what is happening, and how they can contribute.
- To facilitate the division of labor and communication, we will create granular task lists in Excel and link the list from the WG7 homepage (https://nextcloud.quarep.org/index.php/s/DgJBQnjg3jSMgx8). The list will be bae on the tasks emerging from Sub-Group meetings, will provide precise instructions, and include clear due dates (e.g. Subgroup 1: TASK = provide feedback on Micro-Meta App Confocal canvases; DUE=10/17/2022)
16th meeting, 18th of July 2022
Meeting date
18/07/2022 @ 5:00 PM (CET/CEST)
Meeting summary
Despite considerable progress (publications, collaborations with other working groups, feedback from manufacturers, further development of metadata collection tools, educational material, outreach, etc.), participation has been waning.
To address this issue, we discussed the following topics:
1) What can we do to improve motivation and participation?
2) What should be our goals for the upcoming year?
The discussion was very animated and participated. Several constructive suggestions were made. In summary:
1) Having subgroups allows to achieve tasks, but it can be very confusing. It is important to improve the organization of the work and communication to members on what needs to be done and what is done:
– agreed upon, small, and achievable tasks
– clear schedule (always advertised on the QUAREP calendar)
– report back consistency on goals and progress
2) It is important to shift focus from Microscopy Metadata to Experimental/Sample Metadata capture. Would it make sense for WG7 to be involved in developing standards around these topics?
3) It is important to develop guidelines but for work to be successful and productive, WG7 has to be involved with developers to produce tools that implement the guidelines and bring them to life for imaging scientists.
Next steps:
– The August meeting is canceled. See you back in September
– In September, all Subgroups will have a meeting to organize next year’s schedule (regular or not?) goals and activities.
– Co-Chairs will meet to decide whether a survey to collect feedback on future goals is needed for all WG7 members (even those that do not participate in sub-groups).