News and Events
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
We are changing the booking system
In June 2026, the FCCF will transition to a new booking system portal for reserving any of our instruments or services. The current system (EzBooking) will be phased out and not available from July 1st– in order to continue using our services you will need to use the new system (PPMS).
More information will be available at the beginning of June – please be on the lookout for these news and make sure to register for the new system!
FlowJo v.11 and CellView Lens plugin training coming soon
The FCCF bi-annual Happy Hour
Agilent Seahorse XF HS Mini Demo: 3-17 March 26
Functional metabolism - Learn about new, functional, kinetic, cell based assays
Wet-lab registration:
Introduction to Flow Cytometry course
The Introduction to Flow Cytometry course ( 551-1700-00 V) will be offered at the ETHZ in the Spring Semester 2026 ( Feb-May 2026). The format is a lecture course enriched by a workshop and student presentations.
- Please contact us ( ) for any registration enquiries.
Spectral Panel Design Workshop
A 5-day intensive workshop from design to analysis of spectral flow cytometry panels
We are excited to present a 5-day in-person workshop designed for 28
research scientists focused on high-parameter spectral flow cytometry
panel design. Participants will gain insights into the latest panel
design techniques from leading experts in the field. The program will
encompass both theory and hands-on practice in panel design, sample
preparation and staining, sample acquisition using the most advanced
spectral cytometers, and high-dimensional data analysis.
For details, please go to Spectral Panel Design Workshop
Swiss Lunch Cytometry Program
The fourth edition of the Swiss Lunch Cytometry Program, giving you the opportunity to learn more about the Flow Cytometry and related technologies, starts in October 2025. Please save the dates and join the seminars at noon via Microsoft teams .
THINKCYTE VisionSort demo
The FCCF is excited to announce that from August 18th 2025 we will host the “Thinkcyte” cell sorter for a short demo period! In a nutshell, this instrument uses AI-powered recognition of the spatial morphology of the cells, allowing to uncover previously “invisible” cellular features – also known as “ghost cytometry” or label-free flow cytometry.
For more details on the technology, please see here: external page Thinkcyte or the corresponding paper in Science: external page Ghost Cytometry or feel free to reach out to the FCCF team!
Technology seminar: BD FACSDiscover A8
Monday, March 24th, 15:00, HPL J28
Training for the new users of analysers
We are introducing an updated training curriculum for new users. As of March , for utilizing our analyzers every new user must attend a 3-hour workshop that will consist of 1.5 hours of lecture and 1.5 hour of hands-on introduction at the cytometer. These introductions will take place on a fixed schedule on the 1st and 3rd Monday every month of 2025 at 9:15.
The first session will be on Monday, March 17th at 9:15 in HPL G22. If you want to attend the lecture as a “refresher” for your cytometry knowledge, also the existing users are welcome to join.
BD FACSDiscover A8
the world's first spectral analyser with real-time imaging
As of January 2025, the FCCF is hosting the BD FACSDiscover A8 – currently the only unit of this type in all of Europe! This analytical flow cytometer provides state of the art full spectrum cytometry with 5 spatially separated laser lines and 78 fluorescent detectors, and also an imaging component with three fluorescent detectors providing images for every cell measured. We will soon announce dates for a seminar introducing this novel technology. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to the FCCF team for further information at .
Swiss Cytometry Meeting 2025
Last chance to join the 4th Swiss Cytometry Meeting, co-organised by ETHZ FCCF!
We hope to see you in Zurich for both the scientific and educational content, as well as for the technological showcase and networking opportunities.
SCM 2025 program and registration
external page SCM 2025Publication highlight
Publication highlight in the journal “Nature” from our user base! We are excited to share the groundbreaking work led by Gabriel Giger, which has resulted in the development of a novel method for evolving artificially induced endosymbioses between fungi and bacteria. Over the past years, Gabriel, along with team members from the Flow Cytometry Core Facility and the Vorholt lab, has successfully established the sorting of fungal spores, a key step in this discovery.
We congratulate Gabriel and the entire team of Julia Vorholt on this success and are happy that the FCCF could support this work. Read more here:
A NEW ARRIVAL - Bigfoot spectral cell sorter
We are happy to announce the arrival of Bigfoot spectral cell sorter. This high-end, jet-in-air instrument is equipped with 7 lasers , 60 detectors, high- throughput plate deposition unit ( 96-, 384- and 1536- well plates, deep well plates) and a range of nozzle sizes (70um, 100um, 120um and 150um). It allows both acquisition and up to 6-way sorting on spectrally unmixed data or conventionally compensated data.
CytekTM Aurora - new automated sample loader
We have upgraded the Automated Sample Loader on the Cytek Aurora analyser. The important points concerning this change are:
- it can now handle 96-well plates as well as deep-well plates and a new 40-tube (5 ml) rack
- the samples are now mixed by vortexing. Thus, it is recommended not to overfill the wells to prevent spills, i.e. not more than 200ul per well in 96 well plates.
- In the software, you have an extended drop-down menu to select which type of acquisition format you like, and if you use plates, the software has now new options for how you want to mix it (speed of vortexing, how long to vortex, and after how many wells you’d like to vortex).
- Conveniently, because of the 40-tube rack you can prepare the cleaning tubes that are required for instrument shutdown and perform the cleaning-series (Clean/Water/Contrad/Water) automatically. However, you still need to press the “power-off” button afterwards.