The Company of Biologists and Journal of Cell Science have created a web-based community resource for microscopists and biologists to share microscopy news, events, and resources. The site is free to access, and users may register for a free account to post their own contributions. FocalPlane will host news, interviews, opinions, tools, job listings, and events to help promote interactions and foster connection. A scientific advisory board was appointed to support the site, alongside its dedicated community manager. Each of the five advisory board members bring their own microscopy specialties. “We’ve been looking forward to creating this resource for a long time, to bring the biological research community [together] with the optical microscopy development community,” said advisory board member Ricardo Henriques, a professor at University College in London. FocalPlane is the third community site launched by The Company of Biologists, and is sponsored by Andor and Oxford Instruments. The site follows in the footsteps of Node and preLights, The Company of Biologists’ prior community resource endeavors. Node serves the developmental biology community, whereas preLights is a preprint highlighting service, featuring a team of over 200 early-career researchers. For more information, visit www.focalplane.biologists.com.
