Beautifully educational

During the course of research, scientists not only take images of educational value, but photographs that  are as beautiful as they are informative; we take a look at some of the images in this year’s BBSRC science photo competition

The brief was create an image that captured the excitement of new knowledge, the intricacies of research and the sheer beauty of the natural world, and this year’s entrant to the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) annual science photo competition stuck to it perfectly.

The images – from BBSRC-supported researchers and BBSRC PhD students – were entered into one of three categories; Concepts; Agriculture, Food, Diet and Health; and People. There were 121 images from 44 entrants each judged on aesthetic merit as well as the ability to convey complex scientific subjects in research, issues in science and society, life in research, and contemporary topics in bioscience.

Paul Gemmill, BBSRC director of communications and information management said: "The entrants gave the competition judges a difficult job because the standard of images entered for the competition was remarkably high. The creative flair shown by scientists in our community is impressive and their skill in using photographs to communicate ideas in bioscience is highly commendable. We would like to congratulate the winners and thank everyone who entered for their efforts in creating these really wonderful images."

The winner of each category received £500 worth of vouchers to purchase photographic equipment and with the runners receiving £100 worth of vouchers. The overall winner was awarded vouchers worth £700. The images will also appear in BBSRC Business magazine and other related publications.