The Microscopical Society of Vienna (MGW) is the second-oldest microscopical society in the German-speaking world (founded in 1910). According to its statutes, its goal is to promote the acquisition, dissemination, and deepening of scientific knowledge, with a particular focus on microscopy, as well as macro- and microphotography.
The society is open to all interested individuals. Guests are warmly welcome—by prior registration—at the more than 40 meetings held annually. Lectures, specimen preparation evenings, and international networking meetings (via MS Teams) alternate regularly (the current program can be found on the homepage). Three smaller excursions are organized each year, currently to the Danube Floodplains National Park, the Natural History Museum, and a laboratory.
A multi-day workshop focuses on bogs in the Pillersee region, while another multi-day workshop takes place at the Upper Austria State Education Center – Schloss Weinberg – and is dedicated to various specialized microscopy topics, such as cryosectioning, common embedding techniques for microscopic samples, desmids (ornamental algae), and life in a drop of water.
The expertise of the members ranges from preparation and staining techniques, histology, systematics, and mineralogy to historical microscopes, camera adaptations for microscopes, including digital workflows in image processing, as well as filming through the microscope.
Members, as well as students, receive support—where possible—with scientific questions, research, or projects. The sharing of knowledge and the promotion of members are central concerns of the society.
There is also a collective effort to preserve and maintain access to historical knowledge, whether through biographical studies or by reconstructing historical recipes. If components for old recipes are no longer available, new solutions are developed.
Cooperation with partner organizations, such as the German Mikroforum, the Botanical Garden, and the Mycological Society, also has a long tradition. The society is therefore pleased to actively support citizen science initiatives within its means.