3 Jul 2025

RMS Scientific Imaging Competition winners revealed!

Winning entries announced at mmc2025

The RMS is delighted to announce the winners of the 2025 Scientific Imaging Competition.

Covering all branches of microscopy, this year's entries were among the finest seen in the history of the competition.

A shortlist of more than 30 images - across six different categories - formed an eye-catching exhibition at mmc2025 in Manchester this week.

This year's competition also featured the awarding of the Glauert Medal - named after the first female President of the RMS, Audrey Glauert - for best overall image.

Following some difficult deliberations by the judges, the following images were announced as the winners and runners-up:

AFM and Scanning Probe Microscopies

  • 1st: Christian Bortolini, National Physical Laboratory. Peptide snowflakes
  • 2nd: Temiryazeva Marina, Horiba Scientific, France. Magnetic flowers 

Electron Microscopy - Life Sciences

  • 1st: Isabel Sánchez, Centro de Instrumentación Cientifica, University of Granada. "Feather-like" Structures *Glauert Medal Winner for Best Overall Image
  • 2nd: Max Patzschke, Bruker. Flowering heads of Aosa rupestris

Electron Microscopy - Physical Sciences

  • 1st: Igor Németh, NMC particles with Zr.
  • 2nd: Zakareya Nashwan, University of Birmingham, Ductile iron lustrous carbon defect

Light Microscopy - Life Sciences

  • 1st: Yurim Seo, Mark Looney and Simon Cleary, University of California, San Francisco and King's College London. Lymphatic vessels and smooth muscle in a cleared lung
  • 2nd: Jan van IJken, photographer / filmmaker, Trichome

Light Microscopy - Physical Sciences

  • 1st: Bernardo Cesare, Geosciences - University of Padova, Italy. Storm approaching 
  • 2nd: Karl Gaff, Art of Science Photography. Colourful Micelles   

Short Video

  • 1st: José Manuel Martínez López, Química Tech. Tardi
  • 2nd: Christian Bortolini, National Physical Laboratory. Real time self-assembly of amyloid crystals