Rules & Prizes
- Any contestant that is over the age of 18 who holds an interest in neuroscience is welcome to enter the contest
- Use of MBF Bioscience products is not required
- Images that have won previous competitions may not enter
- Submitted images can include but limited to: – 2D and 3D images obtained with any microscopy technique including but not limited to: brightfield, widefield, structured illumination, confocal, electron microscopy, slide scanners, and light sheet microscopy – fMRI images – 3D brain reconstructions – Paintings or drawings of the brain or neurons.
- There are monthly contests (with monthly winners) and an annual grand prize contest. If you participate in a monthly contest, you are automatically entered into the annual contest.
- Participants may submit up to 3 images per month
- Images must be submitted by the last day of the month. The announcement of the monthly prize winners will be during the first week of the following month.
- The Grand prize winners will be announced mid-February of the following year
- There is no purchase required for entering or winning the NeuroArt Image Contest
- Entries will be judged on: Original and Creative Content, Technical Proficiency, Artistic and Visual Appearance
- There are two winners each month: 1) People’s Choice – The image with the highest number of votes from peers 2) Juror’s Choice – The image chosen by our judging panel of scientists and artists. Images are judged on technical proficiency, creative content, artistic and visual appearance.
- The People's Choice and Juror's Choice contests will be held monthly, but require that at least four images have been entered. If fewer than four images have been submitted in any month, they will be automatically entered into the contest for the following month.
- All submitted images will be displayed on the and on MBF Bioscience’s website, email, and social media channels.
- Each person is limited to 3 monthly wins per calendar year.
- The judging panel is selected by MBF Bioscience and includes scientists and artists. Announcements of prize winners are final.
- To be eligible for the Juror’s Choice Prize (see ‘Prizes’ section below), the following journal image requirements must be met.
- Image must be free of labels such as scale bars, etc.
- Image must be submitted in JPEG or PNG format.
- Please note: Each contestant should also have a copy of their JPEG or PNG images available in 810 x 612 points (3375 x 2550 pixels) at a resolution of 300 dpi in TIF format. The winner will need to submit their image in this TIF format to appear on the cover of Journal of Neuroscience Research
- Brief caption for the image (100 words or fewer) to be supplied as a Word document.
- By entering the Contest, entrants agree to assign and grant to MBF Bioscience a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid, perpetual right and license to use the images in any form of media, including sharing on social media, for any purpose whatsoever without any compensation, notification, permission or other consideration. Entrants shall retain ownership of the copyright to the Images. Credit will still be given to the author on the image when it is used.
- For an acceptable submission to NeuroArt, please include:
- Brief image description
- Technique used
- Title of captured image
- Contact information
Prizes:
✰ Monthly Winners (awarded each month):
- Juror’s Choice: A jury will select monthly Juror’s Choice winners. (See below details about how each monthly Juror’s Choice winner will be eligible to appear on a future cover of the Journal of Neuroscience Research, published by John Wiley & Sons).
- People’s Choice: Monthly winners receive $250 towards a MBF Bioscience software purchase, or a free 3D printed brass neuron.
Jurors have the right to not award a monthly prize if they deem that no images are of sufficient quality.
✰ Annual Winners (1st place, 2nd Place and 3rd Place winners are selected each year)
• Grand Prize Winners Awarded Annually:
- 1st Place: $3000 toward MBF Bioscience software purchase
- 2nd Place: $2000 toward MBF Bioscience software purchase
- 3rd Place: $1000 toward MBF Bioscience software purchase
✰ Semi-Annual Journal Cover Winners (awarded twice a year):
• Semi-Annual Journal Cover Winners: Twice a year, the jury will select an image to appear on the cover of the Journal of Neuroscience Research from the pool of six previous monthly Juror’s Choice winners. Appearance on the cover is contingent upon Juror’s Choice Winners meeting the below submission requirements:
- Your research paper (associated with your image) must be submitted. *The research paper will go through a full review process with John Wiley and Sons. Also, if you refuse to submit a research paper, then your image will not be considered among the jurors.
- 1,000-word (maximum) editorial article based on your image and a brief caption for the image (100 words or fewer)
- Each contestant should have a copy of their images available in 810 x 612 points (3375 x 2550 pixels) at a resolution of 300 dpi in TIF format. Image must be free of labels such as scale bars, etc.