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Images of Research

An annual competition that challenged researchers to capture the impact of their research with just one image and a short description.

Project status

Complete

Duration

1 Feb 2009 to 18 Dec 2018

People walking around a gallery space
Images of Research entries were displayed in a public exhibition.

Images of Research ran annually between 2009 and 2018 and was a learning and professional development opportunity for researchers that aimed to develop their skills in communicating their research.

Our approach

The competition was open to researchers, from postgraduate level up, who were invited to submit images and descriptions that showcased how their research made a difference to society, economy, other research or global challenges. Images could take any form, including photos, drawings or digital creations. Descriptions were no more than 150 words and written in plain English.

What we did

Each year, entries were designed into A1 posters and exhibited at a variety of locations on and off-campus including at The Edge. As part of the Vice-Chancellor's Engage Awards, the entries were exhibited and a panel of judges awarded winners in a number of categories including:

  • Best Image - entries where an image really drew you in and enticed you to find out more.

  • Best Description - entries that contained clear, non-technical, plain English that really gripped the reader as to the relevance of the research.

  • Best Overall Entry - entries where the description and image interact in such a way that it clearly communicates the relevance of the research to a public audience.

  • Public Choice - entries voted for by visitors to the Images of Research exhibition at The Edge and online exhibition.

Celebrating 10 years of Images of Research

Images of Research began in 2008 and over 10 years celebrated the impact of the research happening across the University of Bath.

Winners of Images of Research 2012-2018

We've captured the Images of Research entries since 2012 and created a series of online exhibitions of shortlisted entries and winners from these previous years.

Images of Research exhibition 2018

Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, Johnathan Knight

A male professor with a female research colleague
Professor Johnathan Knight, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research with an Images of Research winner.

This kind of initiative presents a unique challenge to researchers who have to explain why their work matters and do so in a visually compelling way. Over the years the quality has improved greatly and it's been fantastic to see how our researchers used images to capture the essence of their work.