The Neuroscience Microscopy Service and Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute are proud to announce the first annual Andrew Olson Scientific Image Awards—a celebration of the breadth, ingenuity and vision of the Stanford imaging community. All these values are embodied by NMS founding director, Dr. Andrew Olson, who retired in 2020. This award is our way of honoring him—and you—by showcasing to the world your scientific and artistic vision of imaging.
— NMS Director Gordon Wang, PhD
2022 Contest Winners
Read more about the winners of our inaugural contest
Grand Prize: The Van Golgi
Amalia Perna, Postdoctoral Scholar, Montine Lab, Department of Pathology
Runner up: Connected Consciousness in an Undersea Egalimind
Chiara Anselmi, Postdoctoral Scholar, Weissman lab, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
Runner up: A Californian Sunset
Alakananda Das, Postdoctoral Scholar, Goodman Lab, Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology
Honorable Mention
Cardiac Vascularized Organoid (“Heart Star”)
Oscar Abilez, Senior Research Scientist, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Cerebellar Tapestry
Kristina Micheva, Senior Research Scientist, Madison Lab, Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology
Dopaminergic Bat
Wenjie Bian, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, De Lecea Lab, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Mammalian Cochlea
Richard Seist, Postdoctoral Scholar, Stankovic Lab, Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery
Oink Oink! A Complex World of Piglet Brain
Jieun Kim, Director, Neuroscience Preclinical Imaging Laboratory
One, None and a Hundred Thousand Thalamic Projections
Vera Vigo, Visiting Instructor/Lecturer, Skull Base Lab, Stanford Neurosurgical Training and Innovation (NeuroTraIn) Center
Maximiliano Nunez, Fellow, NeuroTraIn Center
Trio
Cosmos Wang, Clinical Scholar, Sudhof Lab, Neuroimaging & Neurointervention (Radiology)
View all our remarkable submissions in this slideshow
Get ready for next year's contest
Submission Guidelines
The focus of this competition is art, and thus the aesthetic rather than the scientific quality of the image is key. Submissions may portray the brain, the nervous system and behavior (at all scales from molecules to organisms), but are not limited to the neurosciences. Any images that showcase your scientific and artistic vision are welcome.
Images: Images may be submitted in any standard format (TIFF, JPEG, PNG, etc.). Image size should be at least 1000 x 1000. Images do not have to be unmodified. They can be filtered and digitally manipulated to highlight the science and the aesthetics of the images. Please limit to three submissions per individual.
Eligibility: The contest is open to all Stanford researchers. Submissions are not limited to images taken at the NMS and do not have to come from a microscope. MRI, EM, ultrasound, and other imaging modalities are all welcome.
Judging Criteria: The images will be judged both for technical merit (technical approach and scientific importance) and artistic merit (composition, presentation, style). Be creative. Use filters and Photoshop. This is not about rigor; it is about imaging.
Submission Text: Please provide a caption/description of your image. Please include the imaging instrument and imaging parameters (if you know). Please state what you are imaging, why you are imaging it, and the story behind this image.
Prizes: Winning submissions will be gloriously displayed on the walls of the NMS facility in the Stanford Neurosciences Building. The winner will also receive a canvas print of their submission and a pair of state-of-the-art Zeiss binoculars.
“A word is worth a millipicture. Tell a story with your image and its caption.”
— Dr. Andrew Olson
2016 Art of Neuroscience Contest
Have a look at the winners of our 2016 Art of Neuroscience contest for inspiration. Think you can do better?
Sponsorship
Sponsored by Carl Zeiss, the Neuroscience Microscopy Service, and the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute Community Laboratories.
