The Microscopy Laboratory offers a large variety of systems ranging from basic stereo microscopes to the latest confocal workstations. The facility is currently equipped with four confocal laser scanning microscopes, six widefield fluorescence microscopes and a PALM laser microdissection system. Live-cell imaging is performed on two dedicated workstations enclosed by environmental chambers to maintain constant temperature and CO2 levels. Several offline workstations can be used for image processing, visualisation and analysis of user data. A transmission electron microscope is also available in a separate laboratory.

Super resolution optical microscopy is a two-site hub facility enabled by an MRC optical imaging award for Merkenschlager (Institute of Clinical Sciences, Medicine) and French (Department of Physics, Natural Sciences). The suite of microscopes are located in the Mansfield Centre for Innovative Imaging and has enabled cross-Faculty research teams to visualise structures such as paired axial filaments in meiotic cells that were beyond resolution of conventional microscopy.