The 6th Bangalore Microscopy course was inaugurated on 21st of September, 2014 at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore.

The Bangalore Microscopy course is an annual, week long intense program designed to help attendees develop an appreciation of various techniques in microscopy. Microscopic imaging is a major technique employed in modern biological research and the manner in which an image is captured has a profound influence on the interpretations and scope of the emerging research. The sole aim of the course is to help realise the vast possibilities of microscopy applications. The concept of the Bangalore Microscopy course (BMC) was conceived by Ron Vale, (University of California, San Francisco) and Satyajit Mayor (NCBS) along with Nico Sturman and H. Krishnamurthy both of whom have vast experience conducting hands on microscopy and flow cytometry courses, respectively. NCBS houses one of the best imaging facilities in the country at par with international standards, which is crucial for successful organisation of such a course.  Research at the campus is structured along the lines of understanding different scales of organization in biology from system level neuroscience to single molecular level. This demands continuous expansion of the infrastructure capabilities in terms of specific research equipments required to investigate the diverse scales of biology.

"This is the sixth edition of the Bangalore Microscopy Course, and we continue building on the momentum of our past successes, and collective enterprise. It's hard to go wrong with great course faculty, terrific vendor support, and enthusiastic teaching assistants and of course a very promising bunch of students.  Once again we sense the unstinting enthusiasm of our equipment manufacturers or company folk as we call them, and we are grateful for their support. They have come forward with their newest and latest with a sense of pride of participation; the hard work and months of planning by my co-organizers of this year, especially Manoj and Krishna with Jason and Nico chipping in. Ron and Kurt are taking a break this year but I hope we can have them back next year. We also welcome three new faculties, Melike Lakadamyali, Hari Shroff and Rahul Roy and are very heartened by the interest these busy but committed faculties have shown in wanting to engage with teaching microscopy. These auger well for the future - and that's you, the students who will make it worthwhile." says Satyajit Mayor.

Manoj Mathew, Head, Research and Development at Central Imaging and Flow Cytometry Facility is one of the organizers of the course. He says that the BMC receives at least 200 applications every year of which about 14 Indian and 10 international applicants are selected. The program for BMC2014 comprises lectures interspersed with hands on microscopy training and the lectures will be taught by eleven national and international faculty along with technical experts from the field of light microscopy and a strong contingent of 30 teaching assistants. The course begins with an introduction to basic light microscopy and during the course of the week, will eventually progress to advanced techniques. A brief background on the Physics of Microscopy will also be covered, allowing the participants to better understand the sophisticated equipment required for high-end imaging.

This year DSS imagetech and the organizers have instituted an award, the Zeeshan Memorial Award for excellence in Light Microscopy, for the best poster and paper published using light microscopy.

"With sadness I must add that we have lost one of our long time company participants, Zeeshan Khan from DSS, a tremendous supporter of our microscopy course. Along with DSS we have instituted a couple of awards in his memory, which you must have seen advertised", Mayor stated. On the way forward he remarks, "Once again we look forward to - learning basic steps in microscopy and exploring the most advanced technologies of today. As important will be to make new friends and spread the word. Now that we are six years I hope we can launch a webpage of all our microscopy course alumni and their exploits in full earnest, and stay connected."

The Bangalore Microscopy Course research lectures are open to the campus, follow the link for a schedule. https://www.ncbs.res.in/events/microscopy2014/pages/courseschedule2014.pdf. The course concludes on the 28^th of September.