Neuroscience Photography and Image Competition
As part of the celebrations marking the 15th anniversary of the UFRN Brain Institute, the XI House Symposium invites participants to take part in the Neuroscience Photography and Image Competition. The competition aims to bring together neuroscience, art, creativity, and science communication, encouraging participants to explore the brain, nervous system, behavior, and related concepts through visual expression.
Unlike a conventional scientific photography competition, submitted images do not need to have been produced in a laboratory or to depict a scientific experiment directly. We welcome scientific and non-scientific images alike, provided that each submission establishes an interesting and meaningful connection with neuroscience. A landscape, a social interaction, an everyday object, a pattern found in nature, a microscopy image, an experimental recording, or an artistic composition may all become ways of thinking about the brain.
Who can participate?
The competition is open to members of the Brain Institute community and to registered participants of the XI House Symposium. There is no limit to the number of images that each participant may submit. Each image must be submitted separately.
What can be submitted?
We welcome a broad range of visual works, including:
- scientific and everyday photography;
- microscopy, histology, and neuroimaging images;
- images obtained from experiments;
- photographs of scientific equipment or experimental preparations;
- visual representations of neural signals or neurobiological phenomena;
- graphic and artistic compositions;
- digitally created images;
- images generated or modified using generative artificial intelligence;
- other forms of visual expression related to neuroscience.
The essential requirement is that the submission includes a clear explanation of its connection with neuroscience. This relationship may be scientifically direct, conceptual, metaphorical, speculative, or imaginative, provided that it is coherent, interesting, and meaningfully connected to a neuroscience concept.
What should be submitted?
For each entry, participants must provide:
- a high-resolution image, suitable for display and possible large-format printing;
- the title of the work;
- the name of the author(s);
- a brief description of the image and, when relevant, how it was produced or obtained;
- a short text explaining its relationship to neuroscience.
The complete description should contain no more than 1,000 characters and should be understandable to both researchers and a general audience.
What cannot be submitted?
Images involving animals will be carefully reviewed for compliance with applicable ethical standards and animal-welfare principles. Images depicting clear animal suffering, distress, invasive procedures or manipulations presented without appropriate scientific and ethical context, improper handling, or apparent violations of approved animal-care practices will not be accepted. Submissions must also avoid identifiable human participants without appropriate consent, confidential or sensitive information, and any material whose public display would violate ethical, legal, institutional, or intellectual-property requirements. The Organizing Committee reserves the right to reject any image considered inappropriate for public exhibition or inconsistent with the ethical principles of the competition.
Use of Artificial Intelligence
Images created fully or partially with generative artificial intelligence tools are welcome. However, the use of AI must be clearly disclosed at the time of submission. Participants should indicate, whenever possible, the tool used and briefly describe how AI contributed to the creation or modification of the image. AI-generated or AI-assisted images will be evaluated according to the same criteria as all other submissions. The use of artificial intelligence will neither increase nor reduce a submission’s score. Failure to disclose the use of generative AI may result in disqualification. Participants are responsible for ensuring that their submitted work complies with the terms of use of any tools employed and that they have the necessary rights to authorize its use by the Brain Institute.
Authorship, Ethics, and Image Integrity
By submitting an image, participants declare that they are its author or that they hold the necessary rights and permissions for its submission and use. If an image contains identifiable individuals; experimental animals; third-party material; unpublished experimental data; copyrighted material; or other content subject to ethical, scientific, institutional, or intellectual-property restrictions, the participant is responsible for obtaining all necessary authorizations before submission. Adjustments to brightness, contrast, cropping, framing, and general presentation are permitted. However, when an image is presented as a record of a scientific phenomenon or experimental result, image manipulation must not create a misleading representation. The Organizing or Scientific Committee reserves the right to exclude submissions considered inappropriate or incompatible with the purposes of the competition.
Evaluation
Submissions will be evaluated by a Judging Committee composed of invited researchers and/or professionals, including two members from outside the Brain Institute. Whenever possible, submissions will be evaluated anonymously. Scientifically rigorous interpretations and imaginative or metaphorical interpretations may be considered equally valid. In such cases, scientific relevance will be evaluated primarily according to the quality and coherence of the connection established between the image and a neuroscience concept, rather than whether the image itself represents scientific data.
Exhibition and Audience Choice
Selected images may be displayed during the XI House Symposium and the 15th-anniversary celebrations of the Brain Institute, together with their title and description. In addition to the Judging Committee awards, an independent Audience Choice Award may be determined by voting among symposium participants. The Audience Choice Award will not affect the official ranking established by the Judging Committee.
Awards
The three submissions receiving the highest overall scores will be recognized. Details of prizes will be announced by the Organizing Committee.
Use of Submitted Images
By entering the competition, participants agree to grant the UFRN Brain Institute a free, non-exclusive license to use the submitted image, while authorship remains fully credited to the creator. Selected images may be reproduced and displayed for institutional, scientific, educational, cultural, and science-communication purposes, including exhibitions; institutional websites and social media; educational and promotional materials; symposium-related materials; and temporary or permanent displays in corridors, laboratories, classrooms, and other spaces of the Brain Institute. This authorization does not transfer authorship or ownership of the work to the Brain Institute and does not authorize commercial use by third parties. The Organizing Committee may contact selected participants to request the original image file or a higher-resolution version when required for printing.
15 Years, 15 Images
As a lasting celebration of the Brain Institute’s 15th anniversary, the Organizing Committee may select 15 images from the competition to become part of a special exhibition entitled 15 Years, 15 Images. The selected works may be displayed throughout the Brain Institute’s shared spaces and corridors, accompanied by the image title, author name, a short explanation, and potentially a QR code linking to additional information. The exhibition will celebrate not only 15 years of the Brain Institute, but also the many different ways in which our community sees, represents, and imagines neuroscience.