BioTechniques image competition 2024

It’s that time of year again! We enjoyed hosting our 40th anniversary image competition so much that we’re bringing it back.

The submission window is now closed for the 2024 image competition.

Last year, you submitted images that vibrantly captured scientific phenomena. The winner of the 2023 competition, Monstrous osteoclasts by Sayali Chandekar, took pride of place on our journal cover, teaching us more about the cellular interactions in the bone marrow microenvironment.

What can you teach us this year? Submit up to ten scientific images or illustrations that you’ve taken or created during your research; these images can be of microscopic structures, ecological findings or anything that you’ve come across in your life-science research. We also want to learn about the method by which you took the image to highlight the imaging techniques and research that are producing informative, creative and insightful images for scientific learning and advancement.

Need some inspiration? Check out our top 10 finalists from last year.

Prizes:

• US$200 gift card
• The winning image will be the cover of a BioTechniques journal issue next year
• An interview

Format:

Fill out the submission form at the bottom of this page to enter!

• Only those submissions accompanied by sufficient scientific information and detail will be considered. Please ensure you provide as much detail as possible, filling out the form as completely as you can.
• Images should be a minimum of 300dpi. Images should be of the highest quality available and saved as JPEG or JPG files.
• Image needs to be saved in file format ‘PhotographerInitialsImage#.jpeg’.

Deadline:

Submit your image(s) by 16th September 2024, 18:00 BST/13:00 EDT/10:00 PDT, via the button at the bottom of this page.

• Any queries should be directed to [email protected]
• By entering this Competition, you are deemed to accept the Competition Rules and the Terms and Conditions.
• Ten images will be shortlisted by experts in the imaging field. A public vote in late September will then decide which image is the winner! We will announce the winner publicly in early October.
• There is no cost for entry to the Competition. No expenses will be paid.

Definitions:

‘Image’: a picture that fulfills the requirements outlined by the Competition. It can be taken on any type of camera or microscope, and it can be edited/processed only if a detailed explanation of how it was edited is provided.

Right: example of image (Petit bouquet by David Talens-Perales, submitted to the 2023 BioTechniques image competition)

‘Illustration’: a composition that fulfills the requirements outlined by the Competition. It can be an artistic interpretation of the classic scientific image, but needs to include at least one image. However, illustrations still require a detailed explanation of how they were created, including how the original scientific image was edited/processed. Copyright for original images used must be owned by the contributor and their original source noted where possible.

Above: illustration example, a heavily edited version of Talens-Perales’ original scientific image

Rules:

By entering the Competition, you hereby accept these Competition Rules and the Terms and Conditions:

1.1. The Competition is free to enter and is open to all members of the public.

1.2. Entries must be submitted by 16th September 2024, 18:00 BST/13:00 EDT/10:00 PDT.

1.3. You agree and acknowledge that BioTechniques is permitted to receive your registration data. All personal information will be used by BioTechniques in accordance with its Privacy Policy.

1.4. To enter, you must fill out and submit the entry form as well as fill out and send a signed copyright form to [email protected]. There will also be the opportunity to upload your copyright form as part of your entry. Submissions will only be considered if a copyright form has been received by the BioTechniques team.

2.1. Each entrant can submit up to ten images for free. Judging will be based on each single image and not the series of images.

2.2. Images should be a minimum of 300dpi. Images should be of the highest quality available and saved as JPEG or JPG files. All entrants must be able to supply a high-resolution image suitable for enlargement and printing, should the image be required. Very large images should be sent by WeTransfer, only if the entrant is asked.

2.3. Image needs to be saved in file format ‘PhotographerInitialsImage#.jpeg’ and submitted with an image title and sufficient information.

3.1. A shortlist of up to ten photographs will be selected by our judges and the overall winner, voted on by the public, will be announced in early October.

3.2. The decision of the judging committee is final, and no negotiation will be entered into with respect to any such decision.

4.1. BioTechniques reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify and remove any entry that does not comply with the following requirements, even after the entry is submitted on the website. You warrant and represent, in respect of each entry submitted by You (“Entry”), as follows:

4.1.1. You are the owner and author of each entry.

4.1.2. You have the right to make your entry available to the Competition.

4.1.3. Each Entry must not contain any infringing, threatening, false, misleading, abusive, harassing, libelous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, scandalous, inflammatory, pornographic or profane content.

4.1.4. Each Entry must not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, contract rights, or any other intellectual property rights of any third person or entity or violate any person’s rights of privacy or publicity. Images in public spaces do not require release from background people/subjects.

5. All entrants understand that any image submitted to the Competition may be used by BioTechniques and its partners for marketing and promotional purposes. You hereby grant Taylor & Francis a non-exclusive, irrevocable license in each Entry in all media for any use connected to the promotion of You the author, BioTechniques, Taylor & Francis and its entities, and the BioTechniques image competition.

6. You agree to participate in related publicity and to the use of Your name and likeness for the purposes of advertising, promotion and publicity without additional compensation.

To enter:

Here is your step-by-step guide for entering the 2024 image competition.

• Fill out the entry form; this form asks you to:
  • Upload up to ten images – please label each image you upload as ‘PhotographerInitialsImage#.jpeg’.
  • Upload your scientific information sheet – ensure your information corresponds to the correct image number.
    • Please include as much detail as possible in the information sheet, using the additional guidance below.
    • Only those images with sufficient scientific information will be considered; please ensure you answer the required questions.
  • Upload your copyright agreement form directly to the entry form.
    • This is not mandatory at the time of entry form submission. Everyone, regardless of whether they uploaded their copyright form at the time of image submission, will receive an email asking them to fill out and send a signed copyright agreement form (one agreement per entrant, accounting for all images submitted) to [email protected] if they didn’t upload one as part of the entry form.

Additional guidance for entering:

For additional guidance regarding the details that should be reported for your microscopy images, you can refer to Montero Llopis et al., 2021 or Schmied et al., 2023. There is also an interactive table that you can reference using the MicCheck tool, which can generate an interactive checklist of details to report for your microscopy images.