FEEC and CSC to Join Electron Microscopy Days for the First Time
The Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication at Brno University of Technology (FEEC BUT), together with the Czech Semiconductor Centre (CSC), will participate for the first time in this year’s electron microscopy days - Dny elektronové mikroskopie Brno. The event introduces both the public and professionals to technologies that allow us to explore the structure of materials and devices with extreme precision — down to the level of individual atoms. The public programme will take place on Saturday, 28 March.
Electron microscopy and semiconductor technologies form an interconnected world. No electron microscope could function without highly specialized chips that control its extremely precise movements, image processing, and the handling of vast amounts of data. Conversely, electron microscopes are essential tools in chip manufacturing, as they enable engineers to inspect chip structures and detect even the smallest production deviations.
“A technological circle is created: without chips we cannot build an electron microscope, and without an electron microscope we cannot manufacture chips,” explains Jana Drbohlavová, Deputy Director of the Czech Semiconductor Centre.
Saturday’s engaging and accessible talk on what semiconductors are and how chips are made is open to all visitors without registration. Participants will learn why chips and electron microscopes belong together and why they are essential for modern technologies. This part of the programme will be presented by Jana Drbohlavová from CSC together with Martin Balabán from the student association SPICE. The session is designed for a broad audience — students, parents, and children alike.
Electrical engineering in Brno is historically closely connected with Armin Delong, one of the pioneers of electron microscopy in Czechoslovakia. It was in Brno that the first Czechoslovak electron microscopes were developed in the 1950s, laying the foundations for a field that later gained global recognition.
“Laboratory researchers succeeded in developing a tabletop transmission electron microscope and introducing it into production at Tesla Brno. This instrument was exceptionally successful and won a gold medal at the EXPO 58 World Exhibition in Brussels in 1958,” Jana Drbohlavová recalls. The tradition of top-level research and development in electronics and instrumentation continues at FEEC BUT to this day.
Visitors will be able to see this for themselves during two programme blocks, from 10:00 to 12:00 and from 13:00 to 15:00, directly at the faculty building at Technická 8, Brno. Participants may join a guided tour to the electron microscope laboratory, where they will observe how the microscope reveals details invisible to the human eye.
“The greatest moment of surprise comes when you realize you are looking at structures many times thinner than a human hair — yet they determine how the technologies around us function. The microworld is not an abstract concept, but a reality we can study in real time,” says Nikola Papež from the Department of Physics at FEEC BUT.
Due to limited capacity, prior registration is required for this laboratory tour.
This year’s Electron Microscopy Days (EMD) in Brno, held from 23–29 March 2026, carry the theme “75 Years – Discovering the Invisible” and celebrate the 75th anniversary of the first Czechoslovak electron microscope built in Brno. After all, the Moravian capital is considered a global hub of electron microscopy — every third electron microscope in the world was manufactured here.
Brno will once again transform into a centre of the microworld, where science literally “sees the unseen” — from bacterial structures and advanced materials to nanotechnologies shaping modern engineering and research.
More about the programme at FEEC here.
More about the full Electron Microscopy Days Brno (Dny elektronové mikroskopie Brno) here.
Written in cooperation with the Czech Semiconductor Centre.
| Responsible person | Ing. Zdeňka Koubová |
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