Science Photography and Illustration Competition – India

In the 4th edition of the competition, they invite all science enthusiasts to explore pressing contemporary themes and convey their unique scientific insights through captivating images, illustrations, and science humor sketches.

So not only do you get a shot at winning awesome prizes, but you’ll also have the chance to rub shoulders with the pros and, if that’s not enough, hold onto your cameras microscopes telescopes pens pencils because the best of the best entries will be showcased in a dazzling exhibition at the ISF 2025. Your talent will be on display for all to see.

Categories

• Category A: Photographs of science (can include microscope images, telescope Images, photos clicked through camera and phone, etc.)
• Category B: Illustrations and drawings of science (handmade or digital) (can include illustrations demonstrating scientific concepts, science humor-related sketches or artwork, etc.)

Prize Information

• The top 30 entries (Top 15 in each category) will be evaluated by jury members in each category. The scores will be averaged out to determine the top 2 entries from each category, which will receive cash prizes.
• The top two winners for each category will receive 30,000 INR and 20,000 INR respectively.

Eligibility Criteria

• Category A: Photos of Science:
  • Images must be recent, preferably taken in 2024 itself.
  • Images should be supplied at as high a resolution as possible (for printing up to A1 minimum), suitable for printing in media and an exhibition. Make sure that they are clean, i.e., they contain no text, watermarks, symbols, or borders. Images should be squared, preferably 2000×2000 pixels in JPEG file format. Images should be no smaller than 1 MB and no larger than 10 MB.
  • Using processing techniques such as cropping and adjustments to refine exposure or enhance colors, is allowed, as long as it does not involve manipulation such as the addition, removal, or distortion of significant content.
  • The image size should not exceed 10 MB. AI and software-generated images are not allowed at all in the competition. Entries found to have used AI and or software for image generation will be disqualified.
  • Each image must be accompanied by the name of contributor, the title of the image, and the story behind the image (a brief description of the image which should incorporate the scientific concept science behind the image, preferably in the form of a story), in not more than 80 words.
  • These details should be submitted in the respective fields in the Google form.
• Category B: Science Illustrations and Science Humor Sketches:
  • A scientific illustration must objectively and accurately represent the subject, which can be an animal, a plant, an object, complex concepts processes, diagrams or any other element that requires a graphic representation. A good scientific illustration would be the one that manages to fuse the requirements and scientific needs in an image with technical virtuosity and artistic interpretation.
  • Under this category, you may also submit science humor-based sketches or narratives in a comic design format.
  • Comics shall not exceed 4 panels.
  • The artwork should be oriented in a square format, so that it could be printed on A1 size sheets.
  • Make sure that your digital illustrations are in CMYK color mode, must have a minimum resolution of 300 DPI (dots per inches) and should be submitted as a TIFF or PNG image.
  • The image size should not exceed 10 MB.
  • Both categories will be judged by jury members with expertise in the area.
  • Non-adherence to the above guidelines will result in disqualification.
  • The top 15 entries in each category (Known as top 30 entries) will be selected for the final evaluation.

For more information, visit Fast India.