France-BioImaging (FBI), the national research infrastructure in biology and health dedicated to biological imaging, has established an Africa hub aimed at structuring long-term scientific collaborations and supporting the development of bioimaging capacities across the African continent. This initiative builds on several years of exchanges with African partners and is based on training, networking, and collaborative research activities. A new milestone will be reached with the organization of the BEAMS school in Dakar (Senegal) in November 2026, dedicated to the study of biodiversity and ecosystem sustainability.

Structuring Africa-France scientific cooperation in bioimaging

Created in December 2024 at the initiative of Jean Salamero (former Director of France-BioImaging, CNRS Research Director until June 2025), Samira Benadda (head of the Photonic Microscopy Platform at IBENS – ENS/PSL), and Jean-Luc Verdeil (scientific head of the MRI-PHiV imaging facility at CIRAD), the Africa hub of France-BioImaging brings together 12 members from different nodes of the infrastructure. Its objective is to support the emergence of a bioimaging community in Africa while strengthening scientific links between African and French researchers.

This initiative continues discussions initiated in 2021 with the Africa Microscopy Initiative (AMI). A consultation phase conducted in 2022 with African universities and academic partners, in collaboration with French institutions such as CNRS, CIRAD, IRD, and Aix-Marseille University, led to the definition of an open strategy extending beyond francophone regions, in alignment with AMI and the African BioImaging Consortium.

In 2023, these efforts were strengthened with the launch of the Africa-France Joint Initiative for Bioimaging, which supported ten collaborative research projects.

Training, exchanges and co-construction at the core of the initiative

The Africa hub is structured around several complementary priorities: strengthening scientific exchanges, developing training and mobility opportunities for African researchers, supporting the creation of bioimaging schools in Africa, and contributing to international calls for projects.

In 2024-2025, new Africa-France projects were carried out within the Imaging4All program of the Global BioImaging network, supported by the Wellcome Trust and targeting low- and middle-income countries.

Through these actions, France-BioImaging follows a co-construction approach, aiming to build balanced, sustainable partnerships rooted in local realities.

“The impact of the Africa Hub initiatives is twofold: strengthening technological capacities and expertise in biological imaging in Africa, and improving the efficiency of collaborative research in biology, environment and health, addressing challenges faced by our colleagues today and by us tomorrow, such as climate change, biodiversity, biotic and abiotic stress, and emerging diseases.”
– Jean Salamero

A first major action: the BEAMS school in Dakar

Within this framework, France-BioImaging and its partners are organizing the first edition of the thematic school “Bioimaging for the study of biodiversity and ecosystem sustainability in Africa” (BEAMS), which will take place from November 16 to 27, 2026, at Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD) in Dakar, Senegal.

This school will combine theoretical lectures, hands-on sessions, and scientific exchanges to address key challenges related to the study of African biodiversity and ecosystems using bioimaging technologies. It aims to contribute to the training of a new generation of scientists and to strengthen collaborations at regional and international levels.

The project has been selected by the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie within the INTENSCIF program.