Bio-Imaging West Africa 2022 will take place over two weeks, 26th September - 7th October, at the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP, University of Ghana) and will be offered free of charge to 15 bioscience Master's students, PhD students and research technicians. Compelling applications from other applicants will also be considered.

In the first week, students will acquire an broad understanding of different microscopy techniques, and ways to generate image contrast. More focus will be given to fluorescence and confocal approaches, and an overview of more advanced methodologies will leave students aware of where to turn to handle more complex problems.

The course will have a strong hands-on component and students will cement their understanding by building their own, inexpensive, 3D-printed, research-grade microscope that is easy to reproduce. A wet lab practical will train their skills in preparing pathogen samples for imaging, and ample time will be given for them to image their samples using both their own self-built microscopes as well as the institute's state-of-the-art Zeiss Airyscan confocal.

The second week will focus on image analysis, with an overview of theory underlying digital images. Practical sessions will give students experience in handling multi-dimensional image data, designing image processing pipelines and implementing automated approaches to extract quantifiable results to address biological questions, mostly using Image J.

The course will be taught by the four members of the organising committee: Drs Yaw Aniweh, Alassane Mbengue, Elena Remacha-Motta and Peran Hayes.