Evident unveiled the winners of its fourth Global Image of the Year Scientific Light Microscopy Award, an annual competition that recognizes the best in scientific imaging worldwide. The winners were selected from 640 images submitted from 38 countries around the world.
Global IOTY winner Laurent Formery (USA). The winning image shows the nervous system of a juvenile sea star (Patiria miniata). The small sample, about 1 cm wide, was labeled with an antibody against acetylated tubulin after optical clearing and captured using a color-coded Z-projection. Image Credit: Evident Corporation
Global Winner
Laurent Formery from the United States was selected as the global winner for his stunning image of the nervous system of a juvenile sea star (Patiria miniata). The small sample, about 1 cm wide, was labeled with an antibody against acetylated tubulin after optical clearing and captured using a color-coded Z-projection. Formery chose to image this sea star to showcase the beauty of science in the oceans.
“This is a fantastic feeling,” Formery commented. “Two years ago, I won an honorable mention from IOTY. Winning the global award feels like an incredible achievement and shows I made progress. I love microscopy and can spend a huge amount of time in front of our confocal microscope, but the very nice samples that I am lucky to work with really make the difference. I work with marine invertebrates, in particular echinoderms (sea stars, sea urchins and their kind). They are beautiful animals, with a fascinating and aesthetically pleasing fivefold symmetry that is unlike anything else in the animal kingdom. We know little about how these animals shape their fivefold body, which is the topic of my research. Echinoderms, and marine invertebrates in general, are often not well-known animals. I’m happy that taking images of them helps communicate how much beauty we have in our oceans, and why it is important to know more about them and protect them.”
For the grand prize, Formery will receive an Olympus SZX7 stereo microscope with a DP23 digital camera.
Materials Science Winner
Shyam Rathod from India was selected as the winner of the new dedicated category for materials science and engineering images. Rathod will receive an Olympus SZ61 stereo microscope for his colorful image showing the crystal of a topical medicine for wart treatment.
Regional Winners
Three regional prizes were awarded to Javier Ruperez (Spain) for EMEA, Igor Siwanowicz (USA) for the Americas and Jiao Li (China) for Asia-Pacific. Each regional winner will choose an Olympus CX23 upright microscope or SZ61 stereo microscope.
Honorable Mentions
Honorable mentions include Layra Cintrón-Rivera (USA), Katelin Murphy (USA), Michael Shribak (USA), Jing Ling (China), Mei Yu (China), Robert Berdan (Canada), Uriel Ruiz (Mexico), Liu Ruming (China), Thorben Danke (Germany) and Ru Jinwei (China).
The contest launched on Oct. 4, 2022, with a call for users to submit their best scientific images through March 31, 2023. All entries were evaluated on artistic and visual aspects, scientific impact and microscope proficiency.
From starfish and butterfly wings to medicine, the Evident team continues to be impressed by the diverse specimens captured under the microscope.
“Each year, we receive an array of microscope images that masterfully blend art and science. This year’s new materials science and engineering category adds another dimension to our imaging contest, bringing attention to the beauty of samples in all aspects of science.” said Satoshi Nakamura, Vice President of Global Marketing at Evident. “We are honored to receive so many life science and materials science images from around the world demonstrating the versatility of the art of science.”