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Welcome to the Dubochet Center for Imaging (DCI Geneva)

The Dubochet Center for Imaging (DCI) is a joint initiative of the EPFL, the University of Lausanne and the University of Geneva. The DCI is currently composed of two units, the CryoGEnic facility (DCI Geneva) is located in the Science II building of the University of Geneva and the DCI Lausanne (https://www.dci-lausanne.org/) is located at the border between the EPFL and the University of Lausanne..

These two units form the DCI, a service platform for cryo-electron microscopy. The DCI operates several high-end TEM and cryo-EM instruments to study biological molecules, viruses, bacteria, micro-crystals, small organelles, or sections of biological cells or tissues. The DCI has the expertise and is equipped to perform the entire structural analysis pipeline, covering the preparation of the samples, image and tomography data collection with electron microscopes, micro-electron diffraction (micro-ED), computer image processing, and atomic model building.

Offer

The Bioimaging Center - CryoGEnic is providing help at different levels:

  • Advice for experimental approach and design
  • Guidance for sample preparation (negative staining, plunge-feezing)
  • Supervision and guidance for the use of the electron and cryo-electron microscopes
  • Training: New users are trained on the instruments until they become independent
  • Data analysis and quantification using dedicated software and GPU workstations
  • We also establish methods for ultrastructural analysis of cells and tissues
  • In addition we offer different pre- and post-embedding immunolabeling protocols as well as negative staining
  • The center is equipped with bench space that is available to users of our service.

Available upon request

  • Fees and prices
  • Design and optimization of protocols for complex experiments and applications
  • Alternative forms of services

Dr. Yashar Sadian, Dr. Christoph Bauer, Dr Celine Besnard

Instruments

Microscopes

image of FEI Tecnai™ G2 Sphera
G2 Sphera (200KeV, LaB6)
image of Talos L120C
Talos L120C (120 KeV, LaB6)
image of Talos arctica
Talos Arctica (200 KeV, FEG)

Sample preparations

image of Leica UC7
Leica UC7
image of Leica EM ICE High Pressure Freeze
Leica EM ICE High Pressure Freeze
image of FEI vitrobot cryoplunger
FEI vitrobot cryoplunger
image of Leica EM GP2–Automatic Plunge Freezer
Leica EM GP2–Automatic Plunge Freezer
image of Leica EM AFS
Leica EM AFS
image of Leica EM FSP Freeze substitution processor
Leica EM FSP Freeze substitution processor
image of Spraying device for time-resolved EM (TrEM)
Spraying device for time-resolved EM (TrEM)

Contacts / Direction

Contacts

picture of christoph bauer

Christoph Bauer, PhD

Managing Director
tel: +41 (0)22 379 66 32
Fax +41 (0)22 379 61 50
christoph.bauer@unige.ch
picture of céline besnard

Céline Besnard, PhD

Scientific Collaborator - Electron Diffraction
tel: +41 (0)22 379 62 02
e-email: Celine.Besnard@unige.ch

Scientific advisors

picture of Robbie Loewith

Prof. Robbie Loewith

Department of molecular
tel: +41 (0)22 379 61 16
robbie.loewith@unige.ch
picture of Paul Guichard

Prof. Paul Guichard

Department of cell biology
tel: +41 (0)22 379 67 50
e-email: paul.guichard@unige.ch
picture of Andreas Boland

Prof. Andreas Boland

Department of molecular biology
tel: +41 (0)22 379 61 27
e-email: andreas.boland@unige.ch

Booking

To initiate a project at the DCI Geneva facility please contact:
Christoph Bauer, Head of the DCI Geneva
Tel: +41 22 379 66 32
Email: christoph.bauer@unige.ch
Once registered and a regular user, use the PPMS booking system

To initiate a project at the DCI Lausanne facility please visit the DCI-Lausanne website

Alex Myasnikov is the Head of the DCI Lausanne. He can be contacted at alexander.myasnikov(at)epfl.ch

The DCI is an Initiative of: