Managing Image Data

The growth of research image collection across the sciences, coupled with increasingly powerful instruments and devices for image capture, have created challenges and new opportunities for managing images across the research data lifecycle. Images can be collected in a number of different ways, such as in-house scanning or photography, digital creation, or purchased from outside sources.

Just like any data gathering process, for collection methods to be successful, researchers should make a plan for:

  • collecting images
  • capturing images
  • analyzing images
  • storing images

Read more about image management.

Preferred file formats for image data

  • Moving images: MOV, MPEG, AVI, MXF
  • Still images: TIFF, JPEG 2000, PDF, PNG, GIF, BMP

Image Cores and Centers

Research Core Facilities provide access to highly specialized services, equipment, and staff that would otherwise be too expensive for an individual laboratory to support. Below are a few examples, but be sure to explore the full list of available Quad Department Core Facilities.

Image Management Core

Helps On-Quad researchers manage microscope image data and metadata.

Image Analysis Collaboratory

Providing image data analysis service to all the individual labs and core facilities at HMS.

Nikon Imaging Center

Light microscopy core facility that has been supporting the HMS research community since 2001.

Research Imaging Solutions

Harvard Medical School Research Computing Research Imaging Solutions works to identify ways to streamline image preparation so researchers can maximize their time at the bench, writing grants and developing discoveries.

Research Imaging Resources