Confocal Fluorescence Microscope with superresolution and time-resolved fluorescence module

• Subject Area: Basic Research in Biology and Medicine
• Term: Funded in 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 440518275

A confocal fluorescence microscope with high spatial and temporal resolution has to be procured, and will be part of the central imaging facility of the Rudolf-Virchow-Center with a broad user community at the campus of the University of Würzburg and the University Hospitals. The new microscope will help to answer various biomedical questions in living cells and model organisms in combination and will facilitate new methodological developments. The requested device is planned to replace a 12-years-old, largely technically obsolete Confocal Microscope (with Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging feature), which is still extensively used by a broad audience at the campus. Since the current, old microscope to be replaced can no longer be upgraded according to the manufacturer's statements, the procurement of a new confocal fluorescence microscope is urgently required in order to preserve the scientific competitiveness of the research groups concerned. The scientific questions that require the new microscope concern, i.a. the activation dynamics of G-protein coupled receptors, the physiological regulatory processes and the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases, as well as the method development in the applicant’s laboratory itself, which always benefits all users without detours. The imaging Facility is supported by three highly qualified employees, and will fully integrate the requested microscope into the existing equipment of the Imaging Facility and keep the instrument always functional and up-to-date for all users.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Hochauflösendes Konfokales Fluoreszenzmikroskop mit zeitaufgelöstem Fluoreszenzmodul
• Instrumentation Group: 5000 Labormikroskope
• Applicant Institution: Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
• Leader: Professorin Dr. Katrin G. Heinze