Microscopy School with digital support
Streaming allowed to double the number of participants and had record number of researchers
Communication on LNNano – February 2nd, 2012
The internet was the major partner of the Brazilian Nanotechnology National Laboratory (LNNano / CNPEM) on the fourth edition of the Theoretical- Practical Transmission Electron Microscopy School, held between January 9th and 27th, 2012, in Campinas. The live broadcast of the seminars doubled the number of participants and had a record of people interested on the subject.
The course had 58 participants, including researchers, graduate and post-graduate at students, in masters, doctoral and postdoctoral level. On the first two weeks the workshops were broadcast live on the event’s website. This contributed to increase the audience that had doubled in some instances. “We had an average of more than 50 people per day watching the broadcast”, says Luiz Fernando Zagonel, one of the organizers of the event. “This is a kind of knowledge of increasing interest to the scientific community in Brazil,” he adds. All content of the presentations were recorded and will be available soon on the event’s website.
To extend even more the participation of the interested people and to advance on the knowledge of the national and international guest speakers, the LNNano held a round of mini-workshops on the second week of the course on topics related to electron microscopy and other characterization techniques. The presentations were organized thematically along this week, covering many applications of the techniques in areas such as catalysis, macromolecules and polymers, among others.
The last week of the course was destined to the practical part, in microscopes of the Electron Microscopy Laboratory (LME / LNNano), attended by 15 students selected from the participants. The finalists were separated into small groups to realize basic procedures such as imaging and advanced procedures such as energy loss spectroscopy. “The practical classes discussed the challenges and the potential of each technique in microscopy,” says Zagonel. “In fact, the practice reduces the training time for the participants, if they become users and will use our instrumentation in the future.”
On the first edition, in 2007, 92 candidates have disputed the offered positions. This number remained stable in 2008, has grown 30% in 2010 and rose to 219 applications in 2012, a growth of 138%. “It shows that the area has an increasing national relevance”, affirmed Carlos Alberto Aragão, general-director of the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), which houses LNNano, during his opening speech at this fourth edition of the school.
The Fourth Theoretical- Practical Transmission Electron Microscopy School was supported by the National Center for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Foundation for Research Support of São Paulo (FAPESP) and the Financier of Studies and Projects (FINEP).