Spinning-Disk Confocal Microscope

• Subject Area: Statistical Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Complex Systems, Soft and Fluid Matter, Biological Physics
• Term: Funded in 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 563666758

Complex, three-dimensional, non-stationary processes are omnipresent in the self-organization of living matter and the hydrodynamics of complex fluids. The four-dimensional character (x-y-z-t) of such processes makes it difficult to capture them experimentally, as no dimension can be neglected: Symmetry breaking prevents the reduction to two spatial dimensions, the non-stationarity requires a continuously high time resolution. With the help of the requested device, dynamic, three-dimensional processes in soft and living matter can be investigated. To illustrate the above, two examples are given: (i) Droplets of complex, multiphase liquids show temporally variable three-dimensional convection patterns due to hydrodynamic instabilities, which are decisive for the interaction of the droplets with their environment. (ii) Microbial organisms, filamentous cyanobacteria in particular, aggregate into complex three-dimensional colonies with dynamic and adaptive morphology, based on motility and responsiveness of individuals and their entanglement in the collective, similar to a polymer melt. In order to make the evolution of complex three-dimensional movements experimentally measurable, time-resolved three-dimensional observations on a microscopic scale are necessary in both cases. In order to investigate such three-dimensional processes in different experimental systems, a spinning disk confocal microscope allowing different image planes to be captured rapidly is requested. The system consists of an automated inverted research microscope equipped with different observation modes (bright field & fluorescence), a spinning disk unit with two fast, sensitive cameras, which can also be used for wide-field observation, a laser unit with different laser lines for fluorescence excitation, and a high-performance control computer. For data analysis by means of convolutional neural networks, a graphics processor server is requested as an accessory.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Spinning-Disk Konfokalmikroskop
• Instrumentation Group: 5090 Spezialmikroskope
• Applicant Institution: Universität Konstanz
• Leader: Professor Dr. Stefan Karpitschka