idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft
The jury of the SNSF Scientific Image Competition has selected a record number of twenty winning entries. These captivating photos and videos inspire curiosity, surprise, and wonder, offering fresh perspectives on our world.
The jury of the SNSF Scientific Image Competition 2025 has selected 20 of the 430 works submitted - a record number of winners since the competition's launch in 2017. "The variety of these images won us over," explains Tanja Gesell, president of the jury. "They give you unusual insights and tell many little stories from the everyday life of scientists, ranging from teamwork to solo explorations, from mathematical abstraction to powerful photographs at any scale. It is this unmediated in-between space between the submitted images and the underlying science that makes this SNSF event special." The winning works and a selection of the submissions will be exhibited at the Journées Photographiques de Bienne from 3 to 25 May 2025.
Hairdressing salons, archaeology and wind tunnels
First prize in the "Object of Study" category was awarded to Alain Amstutz, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Basel. His winning photograph captures his research in Lesotho, where he explores the use of hairdressing salons as alternative venues for healthcare services. The jury praised the image as "striking," noting its contrast between a joyful scene and a serious subject. They also appreciated the composition and blur effect, which "reveal as much as they conceal."
A backlit photograph by Guido Schreurs from the University of Bern won the "Women and Men of Science" category. The jury praised Schreurs' image for creatively conveying "with ingenuity the message that science is teamwork" while clearly presenting his research environment and the activities involved. "We regularly take photographs to document our work, the dig site, and our discoveries," Schreurs explained. "But in this case, I wanted to highlight how Swiss and Madagascan scientists work side-by-side in a breathtaking place."
Gaétan Raynaud, a doctoral student at EPFL, won first prize in the "Places and Tools of Research" category for his photograph of an experiment in a wind tunnel. "This powerful image of a scientific experiment reveals, upon closer inspection, another story - the presence of the solitary, often invisible researcher, whose only traces are ghostly and fluid, captured through long exposure," noted the jury. "There's always some chaos in an experiment. You have to choose the composition and lighting so that all the superfluous objects disappear," explains the researcher. "Such photos serve as lasting records of experiments. Young scientists often leave the laboratory after a few years, but this photo will give those who come after me an idea of what happened here."
A sequence by Peter Lendway from Empa showing the nanometric oscillations of an electromechanical system won the "Videos" category. According to the jury, it provides "a disconcerting and unexpected glimpse into an unseen world, reminiscent of brutalist architecture on a microscopic scale."
Aeroplanes, mathematics and webcams
Sixteen works also received an award from the jury. These included a hypnotic display of aircraft trajectories, a cryptic depiction of mathematical functions, an unexpected capture from a webcam, an exotic portrait, and the majestic interior of an experimental machine of indefinite dimensions.
Eleven of the twenty winning images were submitted by students or PhD students. "I'm delighted to see so many young scientists keen to take a fresh look at their work," says Torsten Schwede, President of the SNSF Research Council. "Images are an excellent way to stimulate conversation between science and society, which we need now more than ever".
Since 2017, the Swiss National Science Foundation has been inviting researchers working in Switzerland and Liechtenstein to share images from their everyday lives as scientists with the general public. All works submitted - over 3,500 - are freely available online.
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The 2025 jury
Chair: Tanja Gesell, biologist and artist, University of Vienna (Austria)
Members:
Emanuela Ascoli, Director of Photography and Exhibitions, National Geographic France
Lizzy Brown, Head of Photography, Nature (UK)
Patrick Gyger, Director of Plateforme 10 (Switzerland)
Andri Pol, photographer (Switzerland)
Tess de Ruiter, art and science curator, Rotterdam (Netherlands)
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A unique image database
The SNSF maintains an online gallery showcasing the 3,569 works submitted to the competition since 2017, representing a unique archive of contemporary scientific images. They are made freely available to the public, institutions and the media under a Creative Commons licence, enabling non-commercial use. As a result, they find new life across various platforms, including research group websites, annual reports and social media.
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The text of this press release and further information are available on the website of the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Corinne Ammann
Science communication
Swiss National Science Foundation
Wildhainweg 3, 3001 Bern
Phone: +41 31 308 24 81
Email: corinne.ammann@snf.ch
https://www.snf.ch/en/8qDTRiwkqwyzhMef/news/twenty-prizewinners-in-the-snsf-scie...
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