Striking Image 2023 - Information and Submission

• Submission deadline October 31st, 2023.
• Maximum one entry per person.
• All entries MUST:
  • Be made via our submission form.
  • Have been acquired on an optical microscope at the University of Calgary.
  • Be from biology-related research.
  • Be colour blind friendly (see Resources section).
  • Be limited to 100MB in size.
  • Be in the .TIFF format.
  • Be accompanied by a 300-character lay summary (see Resources section)NOT contain embedded text (i.e., arrows, scale bars, annotations).
  • NOT contain multiple panels.
  • NOT have been post-processed unless limited and adequately justified and described.
• Submitting an image implies that you (the submitter):
  • Hold the rights to this image in terms of intellectual property and/or have obtained all necessary permissions to do so.
  • Give permission to the Striking Image Competition organisers to use your name and image in connection with the contest
    Note: You are not giving up the IP of this image to us or any other party; Files will be retained by the Striking Image Competition organisers.
     
• Failure to comply with these rules will result in disqualification.

• Technical excellence (25%): focus, resolution, contrast/Signal-to-Noise Ratio, dynamic range, saturation (unless required to highlight dark features), depth-of-field, use of light; how demanding is it to acquire this image?
• Artistic merit (25%): design (balance, proportion, framing), use of colour/shape/space, uniqueness, impact on viewer, composition (rhythm, patterns)
• Scientific merit & communication (25%): lay summary (see Resources section) explaining the nature and/or the significance of the image/research within a broad context
• Colour blind friendliness (25%): how colour blind friendly (see Resources section) is the image?

The top FIVE submissions based on our judging criteria will be awarded prizes from 1^st to 5^th. Prizes and Awards Ceremony Date TBA.

NB: Organisers reserve the right to modify the number of winners based on submissions and other factors.

About Colour Blindness & Colour Blind Friendly Images

• colour blind awareness: stats, causes, diagnosis, types
• considering colour blindness in manuscripts
• ImageJ tool to simulate colour blindness

About Lay Summaries

• lay summary guidelines and examples for simplifying some scientific terms
• example of 300-character lay summary (modified from Nikon Small World)
  Trichome (fine outgrowths), stomata (small pores), and vessels of a southern live oak leaf. All three are essential to plant life: trichomes (white) protect against extreme weather and insects; stomata (purple) regulate the flow of gases in a plant; vessels (cyan) transport water throughout the leaf.