During the course of a year, many significant and interesting micrographs are acquired as still images or video clips. The editors of Microscopy Today wish to promote and honor such micrographs.
About a year ago, Editorial Board Member Robert Simmons came to me with an idea. He suggested that Microscopy Today sponsor a micrograph competition where the scientific significance of an image weighs as much as the aesthetic qualities of the image. He volunteered to help implement such a contest. The MSA Council approved the project at M&M 2018 in Baltimore, and the Microscopy Today Micrograph Awards program is now set to begin, with the first awards to be presented at M&M 2019 in Portland, OR. This awards program is comprised of three micrograph categories:
Published micrograph category for images appearing in any publication in the previous year
Open micrograph category for unpublished images acquired by any microscopist
Video micrograph category for movie clips up to 60 seconds in length, acquired directly with a microscope or generated as a video reconstruction from microscopy data.
A panel of judges will select a number of finalists in each category. Finalist micrographs will be displayed on social media, websites, and publications. From these finalists the judges will select a first prize winner in each category. The microscopy community at large will have an opportunity to vote for the “people’s choice award,” the best micrograph of the combined categories.
Submission of still images and videos for the Microscopy Today Micrograph Awards program will be through an MSA website available in January. The timeline begins with the submission deadline of February 21, 2019. Finalists will be notified in April. The Microscopy Today Micrograph Awards will be presented on Wednesday of the August M&M meeting. The top prize winners will receive cash prizes and complimentary registration to the M&M meeting the following year. Winning images will be featured on the cover of the September issue of this magazine.
I invite you to participate in this competition. Please submit your still images or videos. We look forward to receiving your work by the submission deadline of February 21, 2019.
