History

The Portuguese Society of Electron Microscopy (SPME) was founded in 1966 at the General Assembly of the Portuguese Society of Natural Sciences, becoming an autonomous scientific association. In 1990, this society was renamed the Portuguese Society of Electron Microscopy and Cell Biology (SPME-BC), with the objective of contributing to the development of scientific research in the areas of Electron Microscopy and Cell Biology. At the end of 2005, the Society’s name changed to the Portuguese Microscopy Society (SPMicros). Since its foundation, SPME/SPME-BC has held an annual scientific meeting where members present their research work.

In addition, national and international speakers of recognized merit are usually invited to these meetings. Most meetings have taken place in Porto, Coimbra, and the Lisbon region. However, in 1973 the SPME meeting took place in Luanda and, in 1987, in Évora. Joint meetings were also organized with other national and foreign scientific societies. Two Meetings of Portuguese Morphologists were held in conjunction with the Portuguese Anatomical Society. The first took place in Porto in 1980, and the second in Lisbon in 1985. The first joint meetings with the Spanish Society of Electron Microscopy led to two Iberian Congresses of Electron Microscopy.

The first was held in Ronda (Spain) in 1984, and the second (IBEREM) in Lisbon in 1988. In 1991, a Franco-Iberian Congress of Electron Microscopy was held in Barcelona, ​​corresponding to a joint meeting of the Portuguese, Spanish, and French societies of Electron Microscopy. Since the 2000s, and every two years, the SPMicros meetings have been organized jointly with the Spanish Microscopy Society (SME).