2024 Image Contest

In celebration of National Nanotechnology Day and National Chemistry Week, three scientific organizations are holding a joint image contest. The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO), on behalf of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), along with the NSF-funded UC San Diego Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (UCSD MRSEC), and the American Chemical Society (ACS) are giving people the opportunity to explore and showcase the beauty of the nanoscale and learn the value of working at fundamental length scales.

The three winners of the NanoInFocus image contest are:

First place: James Surjadi

Three-Dimensional Nanoarchitected Hexagonal Boron Nitride		Second place: Caleb DeWitt


Micro-Broccoli		Third place: Matthew Hershey


Landscape of Nanospheres

Additional details about these images are available here.

On Oct. 24, 2024, the American Chemical Society (ACS) awarded monetary prizes of $1,000, $500, and $250 to James Surjadi, Caleb DeWitt, and Matthew Hershey, respectively. 

CONTEST FINALISTS

TIMELINE

  • Submission portal closes on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024 at 11:59pm Mountain Time.
  • Jury down-selects images between Sept. 26 and Oct. 4.
  • Public voting opens on National Nanotechnology Day, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024.
  • Winners are announced during National Chemistry Week on Oct. 24, 2024.

VOTING PROCESS

A jury of experts selected submitted images based on the aesthetics of the image, scientific motivation for the image, and the effectiveness of the image and its caption at telling a compelling story about what is happening and why the research is being conducted on the nanoscale. Leaders in science, government, and art were invited to join the jury of experts, as well as share their comments on some of these images on the voting page. These leaders were: 

Ilke Arslan
Director, Center for Nanoscale 
Materials and Nanoscience 
and Technology division, 
Argonne National Laboratory

Craig Bettenhausen
Senior Editor, Chemical & 
Engineering News, American 
Chemical Society

Ian Blackhall Scott
Artist

Branden Brough
Director, National Nanotechnology 
Coordination Office

Stacey Brydges
Teaching Professor,  Department of 
Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of 
California San Diego


Kristen Frederick-Frost
Curator, Division of 
Medicine and Science at the 
Smithsonian Institution

 


Frank Kusiak
Multimedia Project Manager, 
The Lawrence Hall of Science, 
University of California, Berkeley

 

Alana Quinn
Senior Program Associate, Cultural 
Programs, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

J.D. Talasek
Director, Cultural Programs, National Academies of Sciences, 
Engineering, and Medicine

Paul Weiss
Professor and Director, 
California NanoSystems Institute, 
University of California, Los Angeles.

 

 

 

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

  • The submission period begins on August 28, 2024 and concludes on September 25, 2024 at 11:59pm Mountain Time. Late submissions will not be considered.
  • Any participant who is under the age of eighteen (18) must submit a waiver signed by their parent or legal guardian. Please access the form here and upload it to CAFE when you submit your artwork.
  • Images must be micrographs. (Computational models or artificial intelligence generated images are not allowed.) A micrograph is a digital image captured through a microscope – such as a scanning electron microscope or atomic force microscope – that shows a magnified representation of an object.
  • Images must include a scale bar with tick marks that represent 1 micron or smaller.
  • Images can include false-colors, but no other image manipulation is permitted.
  • Images must be no more than 5 years old.
  • Images must include a short description (no more than 1000 characters) suitable for a general audience, which explains the research and the importance of working at fundamental length scales.
  • A maximum of one entry per individual or team is permitted. Artists submitting an individual work may not also participate on a team.
  • For team submissions, the individual who submits will be the lead point of contact for the submission. The order in which names are listed on the entry form, and their spelling is how the names will appear in credits. No changes can be made after the entry is submitted.
  • Accepted file types are JPEG/JPG.
  • File name: your full name without spaces, e.g. JaneDoe.jpg. Teams should use the lead point of contact’s name.
  • File dimensions: 1,200 pixels or greater on the longest side.
  • File size: Under 5 MB.
  • If you have any questions or need help submitting art, please contact cafe@westaf.org or visit the CAFÉ website.
  • All submissions are considered final and may not be modified, edited, or replaced.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

  • The contest invites anyone who is U.S.-based, especially U.S.-based students and researchers, to submit images (one image per person or research team) representing structures or materials at the nanoscale that they have created during their research activities. 
  • Any participant who is under 18 years old must upload a consent form signed by one of their parents or guardians. Participants must be living and working in the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, American Samoa, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
  • Each entry must be original in concept, design, and execution and must not contain any elements that are protected by someone else’s copyright or otherwise subject to third-party intellectual property or proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights. Any entry that has been copied from an existing photo or image that was created by someone other than the artist is a violation of the rules and will not be accepted. The organizers will not consider submissions of “fair use” copyrighted material or licensed materials created or owned by a third party.
  • The content of all submissions must be suitable for a national, public audience. Submissions must not contain obscenity, explicit sexual material, nudity, profanity, graphic violence, calls or incitement to violence, commercial solicitation or promotion. Submissions must not contain content or images that could be considered abusive, inflammatory, denigrating, or disrespectful to any groups, individuals or institutions. Submissions must adhere to the norms of civil discourse.
  • The organizers reserve the right to disqualify, at their sole and absolute discretion, any submission that does not adhere to these criteria.
  • Images must be produced as part of research conducted by the contestants in the past 5 years and they may be used by NNCO, UCSD MRSEC, and ACS for promotional purposes. Submission implies contestants have author rights to submitted images and agree to give consent to NNCO, UCSD MRSEC, and ACS for use of images.

RULES AND TERMS TO APPLY

  • Agreement to rules. A contest entry constitutes an agreement to adhere to the rules and stipulations set forth by the contest sponsors. NNCO, UCSD MRSEC, and ACS have the final say on any point not outlined in the entry rules. All contest sponsors reserve the right to suspend and/or revoke any contest prizes.  Contestants are not legally entitled to any compensation upon entering or participating in this contest and any and all prizes provided by sponsors are discretionary.
  • Originality. Each entrant certifies, through submission to the contest, that the entry is their own original creative work and does not violate or infringe the creative work of others, as protected under copyright law. NNCO, UCSD MRSEC, and ACS reserve the right to remove and disqualify any submission they deem to be in violation of another party’s copyright or other intellectual property rights.
  • Copyright and worldwide use. The submission remains the intellectual property of the contestant, and NNCO, UCSD MRSEC, and ACS make no claim of copyright as to the work of any individual who enters the contest. As a condition of entry for the exhibition, artists shall grant to NNCO, MRSEC at UCSD, and ACS the irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide right to use and reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, and/or display all submissions in any media formats or channels in perpetuity in connection with NNCO, UCSD MRSEC, and ACS activities and operations of the contest.
  • Endorsement and liability. NNCO, MRSEC at UCSD, and ACS do not endorse any submissions or messages expressed therein, and NNCO, UCSD MRSEC, and ACS expressly disclaim any and all liability in connection with the submitted images, including disputes between collaborators related to a submission.
  • Artist names. NNCO, UCSD MRSEC, and ACS reserve the right to use finalists’ names and entries for educational publicity and/or promotional purposes, including on websites. It is understood that entries will be shared with reporters covering these awards and for promotion of the competition itself.
  • Third-party claims. NNCO, UCSD MRSEC, and ACS will not be responsible for any claims or complaints from third parties should these visualizations be published or exhibited.
  • Eligibility. Contest judges and members of immediate family or household are not eligible to enter the competition.
  • Contest results. NNCO, UCSD MRSEC, and ACS will not respond to any claims or inquiries regarding contest results.
  • Disqualification. NNCO, UCSD MRSEC, and ACS reserve the right, at any time to verify the validity of entries and of contestants, and in their sole discretion, to disqualify and/or deem ineligible any individual who they reasonably believe has violated the Rules of Entry or is acting in a bad faith, unsportsmanlike, or disruptive manner.
  • Damages. Use of contest site is at user’s own risk. By participating in the contest, the contestant and the parents/legal guardians release NNCO, UCSD MRSEC, and ACS from any and all claims arising from or relating to such contestant’s participation in the contest, whether directly or indirectly. Contestants and parents/legal guardians agree to indemnify and hold harmless NNCO, UCSD MRSEC, and ACS, officers, directors, employees, and interns from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs or debts, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney’s fees) arising from (i) violation of these Rules of Entry; (ii) violation of any third-party right, including without limitation to any copyright, trademark, intellectual property, privacy, publicity, or other proprietary right in connection with the contest; or (iii) any claim that a contest submission caused any harm, including financial, to any third party. These indemnifications and hold-harmless obligations will survive indefinitely beyond the conclusion of the contest.
  • Privacy. NNCO, UCSD MRSEC, and ACS will take reasonable measures to protect privacy data, personally identifiable information, and other sensitive data of contestants, except when disclosure is required by law. Contact information provided by contestants may be stored by NNCO, UCSD MRSEC, and ACS and may be used to contact contestants for other purposes related to the NanoInFocus image contest.
  • Termination. NNCO, UCSD MRSEC, and ACS reserve the right to modify, suspend, terminate, or cancel the contest and contest prize at their discretion for any reason.
  • Governing Law. This contest and its terms and conditions shall be governed by the laws of the District of Columbia in the United States of America.

ABOUT

  • The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a non-profit founded in 1876 and chartered by the U.S. Congress. They are one of the world’s largest scientific organizations and their mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people. National Chemistry Week (NCW) is an annual community-based program of ACS which unites ACS local sections, student communities, ACS divisions, businesses, schools, and individuals to communicate the importance of chemistry to our quality of life. NCW occurs annually during the third week of October, typically the same week as Mole Day (Oct. 23).
  • The UC San Diego Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (UCSD MRSEC) is a major research center focused on research and education in materials science. One of 20 MRSECs funded by the National Science Foundation, the UCSD MRSEC encompasses two major themes in materials science and engineering research: Predictive Assembly and Stimuli-Responsive Living Polymeric Materials.
  • The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) conducts public engagement on behalf of the NNI. NNCO activities include efforts to convene the nanotechnology community, share information on available resources and opportunities, engage with the public, excite students about nanotechnology, and share highlights and information about nanotechnology and the NNI. National Nanotechnology Day is an annual event featuring community-led events and activities on or around October 9 to help raise awareness of nanotechnology.

CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have questions, please contact: nanoinfocus@nnco.nano.gov.