This event brings together researchers, students, software developers, and imaging scientists to explore how digital twins of scientific instruments can support the next generation of AI-driven research. Using a virtual light microscope as an initial use case, participants will investigate simulation of samples, image formation, instrument feedback, and AI-based experiment control.

The event begins with a minisymposium on 9 November 2026, featuring invited talks and discussions on topics including virtual microscopy, AI agents, autonomous experimentation, and scientific digital twins. This will be followed by a hackathon from 10-13 November 2026, where participants will collaborate on concepts, software prototypes, and open frameworks for virtual scientific instruments.

The overall aim is to foster collaborations around AI for Science, autonomous research, digital twins, interoperability across microscopy platforms, and open scientific software ecosystems, while laying the groundwork for future publications and collaborative funding initiatives.

Register here before Wednesday, November 4th at 18:00. 

Symposium program Nov 9th:

8:30-9:00 Registration
9:00-9:15 Welcome
9:15-10:45 “LLMs, AI agents and autonomous experiments”
Lucien Hinderling, University of Bern, Switzerland
9:45-10:15 “pySTED: Simulation environments and virtual microscopy”
Anthony Bilodeau, EPFL, Switzerland
9:45-9:55  CYTELY
9:55-10:45 Coffee break
10:45-11:15 “Event-driven and adaptive experimentation”
Dora Mahecic, Harvard Medical School, USA
11:45-12:15 “Virtual instruments: from AFM to optical tweezers”
Giovanni Volpe, Göteborgs Universitet, Sweden
11:45-12:15 “Introduction of the Hackathon: Building Digital Twin Frameworks that
AI Can Learn From” Hannah Heil, Lund Universitet, Sweden
12:15-13:45 Meet the Speakers Lunch
13:45-14:15 “End-to-end Smart Microscopy – Keep Hard- and Software in Sync”
Benedict Diederich, UC2, Germany
14:15-14:45 “Microscopy automation and intelligent workflows”
Mike Abantu, University of Basel, Switzerland
14:45-15:15 Coffee break
16:15-16:45 “Computational models and AI for scientific discovery”
Johan Henrikson, Umeå Universitet, Sweden
16:45-17:15 TBA

Organizers

Nils Norlin (LBIC,EMV)
Hannah Heil (Infection medicine, LU)