In 2015 TEMUL and the University of Limerick hosted the 39th MSI Symposium in the newly built Analog Devices Building. The symposium, held on 26th-28th August 2015, spanned all areas of microscopy, from infrared, to light, to scanning-probe, to X-ray, to electron and ion-beam microscopy and spectroscopy, enabling revelations of the micro-electronic and chemical structure as well as the dynamics of materials, both organic and inorganic, down to the atomic scale.

It was a huge success, with over 100 delegates and 16 companies. The three day event began with an electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) workshop followed by a welcome by Prof. Ursel Bangert and the symposium’s first keynote lecture by Prof. John Rodenburg (University of Sheffield). Awine reception and poster session was then held in the foyer.

The symposium’s second day included talks from several invited and student speakers as well as a poster session and dinner in the Pavilion Restaurant. Day three concluded the symposium with a keynote lecture given by Odile Stéphan (Université Paris Sud), as well as announcing the winners of best poster and student speaker in the inorganic and biological sciences.

The invited speakers of the MSI2015 symposium in Limerick offered a broad interdisciplinary view of current microscopies, addressing a variety of techniques from Ptychography, to X-ray tomography, to ion microscopy, to simultaneous high resolution imaging and spectroscopy in the SEM and (S)TEM. These techniques addressed material issues from cell behavior, to electrical, optical, chemical and mechanical properties of surfaces and interfaces, to in-situ tuning and fabrication of nanostructures. The AGM of the MSI was held on day two.

MSI2015 was the first meeting to be held in UL’s new Analog Devices Building, which proved to be a superb venue in every respect, and was instrumental for the success of the meeting in providing a fruitful interface for scientific exchange, interaction and debate amongst researchers from academia, R&D and industry.