The SNSF Scientific Image Competition encourages researchers working in Switzerland to present their works to the public and the media. Photographs, images and videos will be rated in terms of their aesthetic quality and their ability to inspire and amaze, to convey or illustrate knowledge, to tell a human story or to let us discover a new universe.
The competition is held annually. An international jury will meet at the beginning of the year and award a CHF 2,000 prize in each category for the winning entry, as well as distinctions. The award-winning works will be announced in April or May, displayed in an exhibition and made available to the public and the media, as well as to institutions.
This initiative has multiple aims: to show the growing role of images in scientific research, to reveal how scientific work is conducted and give a face to the researchers conducting it. The competition also aims to encourage the media to use more images in their science coverage and make them accessible to the public through exhibitions.
Researchers are encouraged to use their cameras to document the – often unusual – surroundings in which they work, and to give their colleagues a face.