Bond Life Sciences Center at the University of Missouri seeks Mizzou research images to refresh its Joy of Discovery sculpture that spans the five floors of McQuinn Atrium.
 
Entries will be juried by a committee, and final selections will be installed in the Joy of Discovery sculpture for 10 years. These images are reproduced for the transparent discs that make up the sculpture, which embodies the connection our center aims to instill between its disparate areas of science the palpable joy of discovery embodied at Bond LSC.

We encourage submissions that are colorful and high-contrast,  and we may give preference to pieces that incorporate vibrant colors with resolutions that will allow them to be produced well. A total of 8 images will be selected by the committee for installation. 

Suggested entries may include light microscopy images, electron micrographs, images of gels or other assays, data visualizations, computer simulations, and any other scientific visualizations. 

Help us highlight the beauty and importance of the work being done at the bench and in the field.

Important Dates

• January 27, 2025 – Submission portal opens
• April 2, 2025 – Submissions are due 
• April 30, 2025 – Artists are notified of selected images 

Criteria & Specifications

Images should be original, well-executed, and effective at communicating information to the audience. Submissions must be related to a Mizzou specific research project that is ongoing or complete.  
Preference will be given to pieces that are colorful and vibrant.

Eligibility

Mizzou graduate students, undergraduate students, postdocs, faculty and staff are encouraged to submit an image for consideration.

Entry Process

Complete only one application. You may submit up to 3 images for consideration within the application. Please label images clearly with your name.  

For each image submitted, include a title and a caption of no more than 150 words that describes the research. Ensure this information clearly corresponds with its respective image. 

For each submission explain the impact of the work regionally or globally in one or two sentences.. All written components should be entered into the online submission form and not submitted as separate files. 

If a submission comes from a laboratory or team of researchers, please designate a single point of contact.  

HIGH-RESOLUTION MINIMUM STANDARD. Your image file must be at least 300 PPI with the longest side of the image measuring at least 13.3 inches (or pixel dimensions of 4000 x 3000 pixels).
Square images are preferred, as more cropping will occur on rectangular images. DSLRs with 12MP+ are suitable for use. An uncompressed TIF image file is preferred but higher resolution JPG or PNG files may also be acceptable.

Do not artificially upscale the size of your image in photo-editing software as it will not improve the resolution. If you do not have a file of sufficient size/resolution, please try to take another photograph, perhaps use a better camera, or select a different image. Images that do not meet the minimum required resolution may be eliminated from consideration. 

Create a 2000px (length of long dimension) .JPG version of each submitted file. This version will also be uploaded with your submission.

Regulations

By submitting a photograph, image, or graphic (collectively the “work”) contestants hereby agree to the following: 

• You certify and warrant that the work is your own original creative work and does not violate or infringe the copyright or other proprietary or intellectual property rights of others. 
• You retain all copyright and equivalent rights but grant permission for University of Missouri to use, reproduce, distribute, and/or release the work to the public in any manner and in any medium without payment of any fee, and in perpetuity. 
• University of Missouri reserves the right to use contestants’ names and works for educational publicity and/or promotional purposes, including on websites or in exhibitions of winning entries. You understand that the works will be shared with reporters covering these awards and for the promotion of the competition itself. You hereby give University of Missouri nonexclusive rights to use your name, likenesses, quotes and submissions for educational publicity and/or promotional purposes. This includes but is not limited to website display, print materials and exhibits.

2014 Joy of Discovery – Selected Research Images

The below images were the 8 selected to be installed in the Joy of Discovery sculpture in 2014.

From left to right, top to bottom:

• Image 1 – Dr. Pam Brown, Biological Sciences – Microbiology/Bacterial Morphology
• Image 2 – Dr. Anand Chandrasekhar, Biological Sciences – Neuroscience
• Image 3 – Dr. Antje Heese-Peck and Michelle Leslie, Biochemistry – Aberrant Arabidopsis root tip
• Image 4 – Dr. Karen Kirby, Molecular Microbiology & Immunology – HIV structural bio
• Image 5 – Dr. Melissa Mitchum, Plant Sciences – Nematodes
• Image 6 – Dr. Kannappan Palaniappan and Dr. Filiz Bunyak Ersoy, College of Engineering
• Image 7 – Dr. Peter Sutovsky, Animal Sciences – Reproductive Biology
• Image 8 – Electron Microscopy Core in collaboration with a Vet Med research project on bubonic plague