Forty researchers and facility professionals from 24 institutions met in Brno, Czech Republic, for the fourth annual Tescan Collaboration Network (TCN) Meeting. Hosted by CEITEC Nano and the University of Defence on October 20-21, 2026, the meeting brought experienced Tescan users together to share practical knowledge, discuss common challenges, and make new connections across research fields.
The two-day program featured 14 scientific presentations, 6 practical sessions, member introductions, laboratory visits, networking activities, and, for the first time, dedicated Round Table Discussions. On October 22, Tescan Technology Day gave participants a further opportunity to explore the latest Tescan technologies through hands-on demonstrations.
This was the largest TCN Meeting to date. The number of institutions represented on site has grown from 9 at the first meeting in Ulm in 2023 to 13 in Katowice in 2024, 16 in Jülich in 2025, and 24 in Brno this year. Members who could not travel also joined remotely, including colleagues from Dragonfly Energy in the USA and the University of Sydney in Australia. Together, these participants reflect the network’s increasingly international reach.
The opening session also welcomed members of Tescan’s leadership team. Sirine Assaf and Vratislav Košťál, together with Morgan Mariano, Vice President of EMEA Sales, shared updates on Tescan’s future direction and innovation.
A new part of the program, the Round Table Discussions, created space for focused exchange in smaller groups. Participants explored µCT/X-ray Tomography, Advanced Materials Characterization, Core Facilities and Research Infrastructure, and ToF-SIMS and Multimodal Analysis. These conversations highlighted shared challenges and opportunities for future collaboration.
The practical sessions took place at both host institutions. At CEITEC Nano, participants explored advanced FIB-SEM workflows and 3D data post-processing and visualization in Tescan 3D Viewer. The University of Defence hosted a session on high-resolution Micro-CT applications.
Tescan Technology Day extended this practical focus through parallel demonstrations of Tescan AURA Gentle Ion Beam, Tescan CLARA SEM with 4D-STEM in SEM, Tescan MISTRAL PFIB with TEM AutoPrep Pro, and Tescan ORAGE 2 with TEM AutoPrep Pro. The demonstrations gave participants direct access to the latest technologies after two days of scientific discussion and networking.
We are grateful to CEITEC Nano, especially Ondřej Man and Michal Urbánek, for hosting the meeting and providing extensive support throughout the event. We also thank Zbyněk Studený and the University of Defence for co-hosting and supporting the practical Micro-CT program.
Our thanks go to all speakers, Tescan application specialists and PMMs, and everyone who contributed to the practical sessions, Round Table Discussions, event organization, marketing, communications, and logistics. Above all, thank you to the TCN members and participants whose active engagement, open discussions and willingness to share their experience made the three days possible.
The 4th TCN Meeting showed what a user network can become when its members actively exchange knowledge: a growing community that connects expertise across institutions, countries, and application fields.
More information is available on the TCN Meeting 2026 event page.
Discover more moments from the meeting, workshops and Technology Day.