Francisco Balzarotti wins 2025 Frontiers of Science Award
The International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS) in China has honoured IMP Group Leader Francisco Balzarotti with one of the 2025 Frontiers of Science Awards for his groundbreaking contributions to super-resolution microscopy and single molecule tracking. The awarded work, carried out in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Stefan W. Hell, culminated in the development of a new level of MINFLUX (MINimal emission FLUXes) nanoscopy, delivering three-dimensional, multicolour resolution at the scale of a few nanometres in fixed and living cells.
Super-resolution microscopy methods have long surpassed the “diffraction limit” of conventional optical microscopes, offering new insights into the inner workings of cells. In the awarded study, Balzarotti and colleagues showed that MINFLUX nanoscopy can now achieve 3D resolutions of just 1 to 3 nanometres by precisely tracking individual fluorescent molecules using a donut-shaped laser beam. This method allows researchers to capture consistently sharp images across larger areas and in all three dimensions, making it possible to visualise cellular structures in true nanometre detail and in multiple colour channels.
About the Frontiers of Science Award
The Frontiers of Science Award was inaugurated in 2023 with the support of the International Congress of Basic Sciences (ICBS)–a major scientific event held in China, designed to promote and facilitate discussions and collaborations among researchers in various fundamental scientific fields. The FSA award is sponsored by the City of Beijing and the Yanqi Lake Beijing Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Application (BIMSA), and is awarded annually to a recent paper, recognised for a major breakthrough in its field. Each year, researchers worldwide are invited to nominate candidates for the award. A panel of renowned experts is asked to review and select a shortlist of award candidates in each research area. A Global Committee empanelled by the ICBS selects the winners from the shortlisted candidates across various research fields.
About Francisco Balzarotti
Francisco Balzarotti studied Electrical Engineering at the University of Buenos Aires, where he then pursued a PhD in Optics and Plasmonics. As postdoctoral researcher, he worked in the field of Super Resolution Microscopy, developing innovative microscopy concepts at the Department of NanoBiophotonics at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, led by Nobel Laureate Stefan W. Hell. Balzarotti joined the IMP as a Group Leader in 2020, pursuing research focused on the development of novel optical methods and instrumentation for the observation of biological phenomena with the highest fidelity. His innovations earned him a number of prestigious accolades, among them the “Top Ten Breakthrough of 2017” by Physics World, and an ERC Starting Grant.
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