Biofilm Create! Art and Photography Competition
We’re excited to announce the launch of our annual Biofilm Create! Art and Photography competition for 2023! The competition forms part of our #BiofilmAware campaign, which works to raise awareness of NBIC and its research, and the many societal and economic impacts of biofilms.
There are two categories within the Biofilm Create! Competition; photography and art.
Amazon gift cards will be awarded to first, second and third place in both categories:
- 1st place: £500 Amazon gift card
- 2nd place: £250 Amazon gift card
- 3rd place: £125 Amazon gift card
This is a great opportunity for members of the public, budding artists and photographers to explore biofilms in their everyday environments and is also a chance for scientists to look at creative ways of showcasing their cutting-edge research.
The competition is now open and will run until 5pm UK time on Friday 20 October 2023.
Please submit your entries using the online application form.
Take a look at our Biofilm Image Gallery and Biofilm Art Gallery for some inspiration. The gallery contains a selection of images from our 2021 and 2022 competitions.
Eligibility
- Participants can enter multiple times but can only receive one prize per category. If an individual is scored highly enough to win multiple prizes in a category, we will default the prize to the next highest scoring participant, but will acknowledge the highly rated score when we announce the winners.
- Prizes can only be made available for UK residents, but international participants are encouraged to use the hashtags #BiofilmCreate #BiofilmAware to support our campaign and raise their own professional profiles.
- We will accept entries from anyone over 18, including members of the public, scientists, academics, students and amateur photographers/artists.
- You must have been involved in the production of the image and/or artwork and have secured permission (from all the other parties) to enter.
- NBIC operational teams and board members are unable to enter.
- We will not accept previous entries from any of our previous competitions.
Art Category
For the art category, examples of entries could include the following (this list is not exhaustive).
Take a look at our Biofilm Create Guide for a definition of ‘art’ and tips on photographing physical artwork. Please contact us if you have any questions in relation to art forms we will accept.
| Art | Entry format |
| Painting, illustration, graphic design, 3D rendering, textiles, sculpture, modelling, mosaic, carving, printmaking, petri-dish art | Photograph (.tiff, .png or .jpg/jpeg) or pdf |
| Short film, dance, dramatic performance | Recorded to mp4 video file |
| Music | Recorded to mp3 or mp4 music file |
| Poem, short story | Word Document |
Photography Category
For the photography category, will accept images taken on any type of camera or device using microscopic imaging equipment.
Our Biofilm Create Guide provides guidance on where to find biofilms and tips on snapping biofilms either in real life, or under the microscope.
| Photography | Entry format |
| Macroscopic photography and microscopic photography | tiff, png, or jpg/jpeg image file |
Judging
The competition will close at 5pm UK time on Friday 20 October 2023.
A diverse panel of judges will take into account creativity, originality, composition, imagination used, scientific value and the overall artistic impression in both categories.
We will confirm the outcomes to the winners, judges and entrants by 17 November 2023. NBIC will publicly announce the winners of the competition during #BiofilmWeek, which will take place from 18-24 November 2023.
Please note
- NBIC reserves the right to publish entries with the credit titles to its social media channels throughout the submission period to publicise the contest. Such publication does not guarantee an award of any kind.
- Please do not post your art in the mail. We can only accept art in the formats mentioned above. However, depending on the number of entries we receive to this category, we may look to hold an in-person exhibition in the future, so please keep hold of your work.
- Images on websites and social media can potentially be shared and viewed throughout the world and not just in the United Kingdom and some overseas countries may not provide the same level of protection to the rights of individuals as EU/UK legislation.
If you require any further information or have any questions about this competition, please contact us at nbic@biofilms.ac.uk