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We contribute to the advancement of bioscience by providing equipment to state-of-the-art research and education facilities.

Shoko Hara
Sales Promotion Section, Bioscience Marketing Department, Instruments Company, Nikon Corporation

Nikon Imaging Centers: contributing to research and education

Global Map of Nikon Imaging Centers
*Figures in parentheses indicate the year of establishment

Harvard Medical School(2001), Heidelberg University (2005), Hokkaido University (2005), University of California, San Francisco(2006), Biopolis (2007), Northwestern University(2008), King's College London (2012)

Products made by the Nikon Instruments Company have a very diverse range of applications, covering everything from research fields such as medicine and biotechnology to industrial sectors such as pharmaceuticals, electronic components, and automotive parts. The Nikon Group develops new products and new imaging technologies to keep pace with a multitude of new discoveries and new customer needs.
We also contribute to the advancement of bioscience by providing research and educational institutions with cutting-edge microscopy equipment. As part of this contribution, Nikon has partnered with the world's most distinguished universities and research centers to launch "Nikon Imaging Centers" on science campuses around the world. These centers have been instrumental in the grand success and achievements of the researchers who use them.
At present, there are eight Nikon Imaging Centers in total — three in the United States, two in Asia, and three in Europe — and each is set up adjacent to the laboratories in the research institutions of which it is a part. While the Centers are primarily operated by their respective universities to meet the needs of their research institutions, Nikon is also able to use them as a showroom for microscopes and as a place to educate and train researchers, Nikon employees, and other parties.
Many researchers and future research leaders at Nikon Imaging Centers have a great fondness and appreciation for Nikon's "A1" state-of-the-art laser scanning confocal microscopy systems and inverted microscopes such as the Eclipse Ti inverted microscope. This in turn leads to a deeper understanding of the principles of microscopy and to the discovery of more advanced applications. Research using these instruments is cited in over 270 research papers.


Partnerships helping to advance research and products

At Nikon Imaging Centers, users, Center staff, and Nikon specialists share information relating to product performance, product needs, and research validation. Nikon also considers this information as a valuable opportunity to determine new applications and needs. For example, at the Nikon Imaging Center at Heidelberg University, seminars jointly sponsored by Nikon Instruments Europe B.V. are held every year, and about 100 participants, from beginners to the experienced, get to learn about imaging.
Last year, we had an opportunity to talk directly with users at the center at Heidelberg University. We were able to ask them about the latest applications and how Nikon products were contributing to research, as well as about any issues or requests they had for future improvements.
More than just providing the latest Nikon products, our hope is to utilize these centers as places for communicating with researchers, and to contribute to the further advances in the field of bioscience.