Olympus announces 2020 Image of the Year Award winners

Olympus has unveiled the winners of its second Global Image of the Year Life Science Light Microscopy Award (Image of the Year Award), an annual competition that aims to recognise the best in life science imaging. The winning images were selected from nearly 700 submissions from 61 countries.

The award began in 2017 as the Image of the Year European Life Science Light Microscopy Award, with the aim to celebrate both the artistic and scientific value of microscopy images. The latest iteration of the contest launched on 15 September 2020, with a call for users to submit their best life science microscopy images through 31 January 2021. All entries were evaluated on artistic and visual aspects, scientific impact and microscope proficiency.

Werner Zuschratter from Germany was selected as the global winner for his eye-catching image of a whole rat embryo captured with a confocal microscope. For the grand prize, Zuschratter will receive an Olympus SZX7 stereo microscope with a DP27 digital camera.

Global winner Werner Zuschratter captured a whole rat embryo with a confocal microscope.

There were also three regional winners, each of whom will receive an Olympus CX23 upright microscope. Asia–Pacific regional winner XinPei Zhang (China) imaged scales collected from different butterfly wings; Americas regional winner Justin Zoll (USA) captured a panoramic image of L-glutamine and beta-alanine crystals; and EMEA regional winner Grigorii Timin (Switzerland) imaged collagen fibres and dermal pigment cells of snakeskin.

Americas regional winner Justin Zoll captured a panoramic image of L-glutamine and beta-alanine crystals.

Asia–Pacific regional winner XinPei Zhang imaged scales collected from different butterfly wings.

EMEA regional winner Grigorii Timin imaged collagen fibres and dermal pigment cells of snakeskin.

The Olympus Life Science team said they were impressed by the diverse collection captured under the microscope this year, with Satoshi Nakamura, Vice President of Scientific Solutions Global Marketing at Olympus Corporation, expressing enthusiasm about the bold, beautiful and often breathtaking images.

“Not only did we see a record number of submissions, but the quality and creativity of those images were exceptional,” Nakamura said. “It’s amazing to see the unexpected art people capture with a microscope.”

Top image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/tomertu

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