2021 Winners
Cyber Canyon
Septins interacting with lipid membrance
New vision
Crystals and Cells
Pyrite (FeS2) nanocrystals
Tungsten fingers
Drosophila melanogaster ovaries
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis under the microscope
Borax crystals
Nylon stockings
Co-Eid
Short Video
2019 Winners
Red Blood Cells in Neuroacanthocytosis
Ballons
The Building Blocks of Jet Engines
A Blooming New World
Understanding the Octopus Embryo
Mixed Messages from Microdots
Crystal River
Rutile Star in Smoky Quartz
Outside and Inside a Compound Eye
Graphene Connecting the World
Quantum
Fibre Pushouts on a SiC / SiC Composite
2017 Winners
1st Prize, Electron Microscopy - Life Sciences
SEM image of a Bacterial culture from a mobile phone. The average handset carries 18 times more potentially harmful germs than a flush handle in a men's toilet, tests have revealed.
Steve Gschmeissner
2nd prize, Electron Microscopy - Life Sciences
False coloured SEM image that resembles a colony of strange creatures milling about on a rock face. What the image actually shows is a close up of a ragworm's head. The ragworm is a type of marine worm.
Anne Weston
1st Prize, Electron Microscopy - Physical Sciences
Zeroth order diffracted intensity of a structured electron beam generated using a focused-ion-beam-prepared holographic aperture comprising a superposition of two Laguerre-Gaussian states with quantum numbers L and p of (4,4) and (-4,2), respectively. Acknowledgments: Amir Tavabi, Federico Venturi, Gian-Carlo Gazzadi, Penghan Lu, Steffano Frabboni, Ebrahim Karimi, Vincenzo Grillo,
Rafal Dunin-Borkowski.
2nd Prize, Electron Microscopy - Physical Sciences
This biomimetic form is a self-assembled inorganic structure of barium carbonate that mimics life in fossil form. And at the same time reminds us an old micrometer-scale microphone. The image was acquired with a scanning electron microscope at 1kV in decceleration mode.
Lionel Cervera Gontard
1st prize, Light Microscopy - Life Sciences
The brain of the marine planktonic salp Iasis cylindrica is shown in high magnification. It is stained with antibodies against serotonin (green) and tyrosinated-alpha-tubulin (red), and the nuclei marker Dapi (blue).
Mohammad Mofatteh
2nd Prize, Light Microscopy - Life Sciences
Inside the brain ventricles, the choroid plexus (right corner) represents the barrier between the body immune system (Macrophages, green round cells) and the brain-specific counterpart (Microglia, green ramified cells in left corner). Immunofluorescent image acquired via Leica laser scanning confocal microscope. Green:Iba1 (Immune cells) Red:Laminin (blood vessels) Blue:DAPI (cell nuclei). Image size: 0.5 x 0.5 mm.
Roberto Fiorelli
2nd Prize, Light Microscopy - Physical Sciences
Differencial interference contrast microscopy technique using a Nikon Eclipse LV100 microscope. Magnification 20x Field of view 0.72mm.
Jonathan Muyal
1st Prize, Light Microscopy - Physical Sciences
In a sol-gel process, particles in a colloidal solution (sol) are converted to form a solid network (gel). Here, a spin-coated liquid sol film was covered by glass slide. Before solidifying air displaces the sol forming the viscous fingers pattern. The thin film interferes with visible light creating the colours.
Claire Trease
1st prize, Scanning Probe Microscopy
Highest resolution image of single LH2 nonamer rings where defects in the ring are visible and single subunits can be discerned.
Sandip Kumar
2nd Prize, Scanning Probe Microscopy
This Atomic Force Microscopy image show E. coli cells under a blanket made of Graphene Oxide sheets. This is one of the mechanisms of Graphene Oxide antibacterial activity.
Valentina Palmieri
Conference App, People's Choice Prize
Hebe anther with pollen scanned with confocal microscopy, using blue and red lasers. Auto-fluorescence was detected in four different channels, Zeiss 2012 Zen Black and Photoshop was used to enhance the colours. Water mounted sample, magnification 100x.
Robert Markus & Zsuzsa Markus
2015 Winners
1st Prize Electron Microscopy Life Sciences.
Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of predatory mites. Mites are small arthropods belonging to the subclass Acari and the class Arachnida. Mites are among the most diverse and successful of all the invertebrate groups. Mites with pronounced palps and long legs, the front pair facing forward, are typically predatory. Magnification: x 18 when printed at 10 centimetres wide. Author, Steve Gschmeissner
2nd Prize Electron Microscopy Life Sciences.
The marine bacterium, Simiduia agarivorans SA1T are trying to communicate with the scientist in Taiwan. The micrographs were observed by cryo-transmission electron microscopy. Authors, Yuan-Chih Chang and Silk Yu Lin
1st Prize Electron Microscopy Physical Sciences.
Electrochemically produced micro-crystals of titanium deposited on a machined titanium alloy surface give the appearance of a boulder field. Visualising surface treatments and micro-structure can help understand bulk properties such as the corrosion resistance or bio-compatibility of such materials as used for medical device applications. 5kV, stage tilted, field-width 15.5µm. Author, Paul Gunning
2nd Prize Electron Microscopy Physical Sciences.
The image shows the film microstructures of methylammonium lead iodide perovskite material after being poled by high electric field. The initial morphology of perovskite film on the prepared substrates was lost as a result of the high electric filed poling. Hence this mircostructure resembling the shape of a tree growing on a grassland formed. Author, Kunwu Fu
1st Prize Light Microscopy Life Sciences.
Live phantom midge larva imaged with a Zeiss X4 planapo objective on a Zeiss Standard trinocular microscope. Illuminated with polarised light and a retarder. Canon EOS 40D camera. A composite stitched from 54 individual images with Microsoft image composite editor. Magnification X50 at the camera sensor for each individual image. Author, David Linstead
2nd Prize, Light Microscopy Life Sciences.
This image shows chlorophyll autofluorescence in a live (dividing) chloroplast isolated from Arabidopsis thaliana leaves. The chloroplast was imaged on an OMX V3 Blaze microscope in structured illumination mode. The top shows a 3D reconstruction and the bottom row shows single optical sections all in false colour. Author, Eva Wegal
1st Prize Light Microscopy Physical Sciences.
An image of a camera chip when viewed at 1000x using an Olympus LEXT OLS4000 Laser Scanning Confocal MIcroscope. Author, Kevin Smith DipRMS
2nd Prize Light Microscopy Physical Sciences.
Micro-pillars (dark circles) formed by an electrohydrodynamic instability and viscous fingers (large circle) formed from a Saffman-Taylor instability, transmitted light 500xA spin-coated polymer thin film was applied to the surface of an electrode in a capacitor. Electrohydrodynamic instabilities at the polymer/ air interface cause the micro-pillars to grow. Viscous fingers are the result of one fluid displacing another of a higher viscosity when they are confined between two surfaces. Author, Claire Trease
2014 Winners
1st Prize Electron Microscopy Life Sciences.
Typical of the genus Medicago the carpel is coiled into a spiral of 1-2 turns. As a tall shrub it is unlike the other members of the family and its dispersal relies more on branch agitation from wind and animals. Hand coloured SEM assembled from 42 individual images. Author, Rob Kessler
2nd Prize Electron Microscopy Life Sciences. Molluscum contagiosum, a infection of the skin caused by a DNA poxvirus. Large numbers of pox virus particle are contained in an infected cell called a molluscum body. Image taken from a conventional stained LM where sectioning exposed the virus. Subsequent demounting and SEM processing in a novel procedure. Author, Steve Gschmeissner
1st Prize Electron Microscopy Physical Sciences. Gold-palladium alloy ‘fjords’ on a well-worn sputter coater target. Foil targets are gradually eroded by bombardment of gas (usually argon) ions, dislodging metal ions by momentum transfer. Erosion tends to proceed along high energy boundaries in the metal grain structure, sculpting a remarkable ‘landscape’. 5kV, stage tilted, field-width 54.2µm. Author, Paul Gunning
2nd Prize Electron Microscopy Physical Sciences. SEM image of hemozoin-like crystals secondary electron image measured at 15 kV. Image represents a magnification of ca. 5000x, the horizontal field width is 55 microns. These crystals are part of a project seeking to develop new antimalarial compounds. Sample provided by Carolina Isabel Glória Tempera, of the Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Lisbon. Author, Peter Eaton
2nd Prize Light Microscopy Life Sciences. Reconstruction of mouse layer three pyramidal cell from confocal Z-Stack (shown on one plane). Author, Joanne Falck
1st Prize Light Microscopy Physical Sciences. This image shows a spectacular display of focal conic-like domain with varying degrees of modulation and checkerboard patterns. A peculiarity that attracts particular attention is the formation of checkerboard patterns out of the developable domain with a fan-shaped texture having extinction brushes parallel and perpendicular to the polarizer. Author, Rajdeep Deb
2nd Prize Light Microscopy Physical Sciences. Cross-polarized image of Ascorbic Acid crystals. Author, Michael Much
2012 Winners
1st Prize Electron Microscopy Life Sciences. False coloured SEM of parapodia of the ragworm. The ragworm's body is made up of many segments each of which contains a pair of parapodia that are used for locomoation. These parapdoa are covered in bristles called chaetae that can clearly be seen in this image. Author, Anne Weston
2nd Prize Electron Microscopy Life Science. Micrograph depicts anterior part of the cephalothorax of money spider Walckenaeria cucullata (faily Linyphiidae) under FE-SEM. Unique cuticular structures in anterior and dorsal face of the cephalothorax are one of distinctive features in male spiders in genus Walckenearia. In the case of W. cucullata cuticular protuberances and tufts of cuticular hairs closely resemble the head of a seal on large ball, when observed under appropriate angle. The specimen was fixed in glutaradahyde, postfixed in osmium, dehydrated in series of ethanol, critical point dried and coated by platinum prior observation under JEOL JSM-7500F cold cathode FESEM. Picture was taken at 22,2 mm working distance, acceleration voltage of 2 kV and depicts area of approximately 270 x 225 µm. Obtained monochromatic picture was colourized by Corel Paint Shop Pro X2. Author, Rok Kostanjsek
3rd Prize, Electron Microscopy Life Sciences. Single celled marine alga covered by a shell of calcium carbonate plates are called coccospheres. This STEM HAADF image shows a coccolith of Emiliana huxleyi. Author, Ramona Hoffman
2nd Prize, Electron Microscopy Physical Sciences. Chemical vapour deposition through sequential injections of aerosols was used to grow vertically aligned multi-walled carbon nanotube multi-layers on alumina micro-spherical particles. Such hybrid material is a promising multi-scale combination for material applications due to its interesting electrical, thermal and mechanical properties. Author, Anthony Dichiara
3rd Prize Electron Microscopy Physical Sciences. Blown tungsten filament from a Scanning Electron Microscope. The shape of the blown ends of the filament can help to diagnose the cause of failure. Author, Paul Gunning
1st Prize Light Microscopy Life Sciences. Stress fibres within a cell immunostained green and microtubules immunustained red. Nuclei counterstained blue with DAPI. Author, David Robertson
2nd Prize Light Microscopy Life Sciences. Stained section, darkfield illumination. Author, Harold Taylor
3rd Prize Light Microscopy Life Sciences. A group of freshly-collected cornflower seeds, Horizontal Field Width = 20mm. Author, Spike Walker
1st Prize Light Microscopy Physical Sciences. The image revealed the coexistence of different type of long spiral helical ribbons (beaded-, screw-like etc.), flattened spindle like domain along with a super coil. Author, Rajdeep Deb
2008 Winners
1st Prize Electron Microscopy Life Sciences. SEM of mole nose to show specialised Eimers organs. Author, Steve Gschmeissner
3rd Prize Electron Microscopy Life Sciences. Microscopy - The Devil is in the Detail. Author, John Greenhorn
1st Prize Electron Microscopy Physical Sciences. Pharmaceutical Drug delivery Polymer ( polymethacrylic acid and the corticosteroid drug prednisolone) Dry formulation of polymers were adhered onto a SEM stub using double sided carbon adhesive discs, prior to viewing the sample was gold coated in an Emitech K550 Sputter Coater for 2 minutes at 20mA. The coated sample was then transferred into a FEI XL30 Scanning Electron Microscope and imaged at 10KV using a high tilt angle. High definition digital images were captured and imported into Photoshop for enhancing and colouring. Authors, David McCarthy & Annie Cavanagh
2nd Prize Electron Microscopy Physical Sciences. An Electron Back Scatter Diffraction (EBSD) image of the texture of undeformed AISI430 ferritic stainless steel. This shows the starting material prior to deformation. Inverse pole figure (IPF) colouring allows the crystallographic orientation in the specimen to be interpreted in terms of the sample coordinates. Author, John Hinton
3rd Prize Electron Microscopy Physical Sciences. A Crystal of Erythritol ( natural sugar) was adhered onto a SEM stub using double sided carbon adhesive discs, prior to viewing the sample was gold coated in an Emitech K550 Sputter Coater for 2 minutes at 20mA. The coated sample was then transferred into a FEI XL30 Scanning Electron Microscope and imaged at 10KV using a high tilt angle. High definition digital images were captured and imported into Photoshop for enhancing and colouring. Authors, David McCarthy & Annie Cavanagh
1st Prize Light Microscopy Life Sciences. Portion of longitudinal section of hen's tongue. Polarised light microscopy. Author, Steve Lowry
3rd Prize Light Microscopy Life Sciences. Bicycles come in every shape and size. This micro-bicycle is less than 1 mm long (650 micron) and can only be imaged with a light microscope. It is made up of a collection of diatoms (Arachnoidiscus and Nitzschia) which have been arranged carefully on a microscope slide by Dr Klaus Kemp. Author, Louise Cole
2010 Winners
1st Prize Electron Microscopy Life Sciences. A three-dimensional computer model showing part of the intercalated disc, the undulating double membrane that separates adjacent cardiomyocytes. The model was constructed from an electron tomogram. The membrane is shown in olive green, mitochondria; purple, sarcoplasmic reticulum; pale blue, gap junctions; dark green, desmosomes; red. Field size; 4.7x2.7x0.4um. Author, Amanda Wilson
2nd Prize Electron Microscopy Life Sciences. This is a high magnification and coloured image of a fruitfly compound eye. In normal tissue, the structure of the eye is very repetitive and highly organised, but here is an example of a mutant eye where the tissue structure is barely recognisable. The cells of this eye are overexpressing a protein called Yorkie, which leads to the formation of tumours. We can see strange protrusions (yellow) and tunnel-like structures with holes (in brown) that are never found in a normal eye. The brown structure engendered by this mutation has been dubbed a ³wart², and this particular ³wart² forms a cute little alien face that seems, for good reasons, a bit bewildered to find itself here! (Sample material provided by A. Genevet, sample preparation and picture by K. Blight, colourisation by A. Weston). Author, Ken Blight
3rd Prize Electron Microscopy Life Sciences. Three-dimensional reconstruction of an apical dendrite of a pyramidal cell from the cerebral cortex; apart the dendrite, the axial view includes also surrounding astrocyte processes with glycogen particles. Serial electron microscopy, Jeol transmission electron microscope, prim. magn. 30 000 x. Author, Josef Spacek
1st Prize Electron Microscopy Physical Sciences. Scanning Probe Microscopes (SPMs) provide a whole new physical toolkit for nanoscale forces and interactions. This SEM image shows a polymer bead attached to a silicon-nitride cantilever so its stiffness can be estimated by SPM, using tiny forces to squash the bead against a hard surface. 5kV, Field-width 115µm. Author, Paul Gunning
2nd Prize Electron Microscopy Physical Sciences. SEM - high vacuum. NaCl crystal and C reactive protein. Author, Ken Png
3rd Prize Electron Microscopy Physical Sciences. An SEM micrograph showing structural modifications of a thermocompression gold ball bond. Author, Jonathan Ogden
1st Prize Light Microscopy Life Sciences. Pseudo darkfield image showing the proboscis of a Blowfly from a slide by Norman. Sony Cybershot W50 digital camera attached to an Olympus widefield eyepiece coupled with a x3.7 Lomo achromatic objective lens on a Russian Biolam microscope. Author, Michael Gibson
3rd Prize Light Microscopy Life Sciences. Cultured mouse fibroblast immunostained for alpha tubulin(green) and Vimentin(red). Imaged in a confocal microscope. Author, David Robertson
2nd Prize Light Microscopy Physical Sciences. Ascorbic Acid crystals photographed by cross-polarization. Author, Michael Much
