We are pleased to announce the launch of our third BMC Ecology and Evolution image competition! Submit your images and the stories behind them for a chance to highlight your research, win prizes, and have your photography featured in the journal.

Last year’s competition attracted substantial attention from researchers and the wider public. International media outlets highlighted the winning images, including Science, New Scientist, Science News, Live Science, Gizmodo, National Geographic España, CNN, The Telegraph, and MailOnline. We were also delighted to see the winning image, 'The story of a conquest' taken by Roberto García Roa, featured in Nature’s best science images of 2022. To learn more about last year’s winners, please read our editorial.

The competition provides a fantastic opportunity to showcase research and the beauty of nature to a broad audience. Anyone affiliated with a research institution is eligible to enter one image into each of the following four categories:

1. Research in action. Images that showcase ecological or environmental biology research or capture experiences of conducting studies and collecting data.
2. Protecting our planet. Photos conveying efforts to support and raise awareness of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
   - SDG6.6: Protect and restore water-related ecosystems
   - SDG14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
   - and SDG15: Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and biodiversity loss.
3. Plants and Fungi. Photos depicting:
   - The importance of plants and fungi in ecosystems
   - The extraordinary way plants and fungi have evolved to attract insects to reproduce and ensure survival.
   - Extinction risk and threats to plants and fungi.
4. Paleoecology. Images which provide glimpses into long-lost worlds (e.g., fossil assemblages, microfossils, paleohistology and paleoart).

Judging the competition will be members of the BMC Ecology and Evolution editorial board, along with Jennifer Harman, the Editor of the journal. The journal will award the overall winner €800, and the winner for each of the four categories will receive €200. The journal will also award €50 to the runner up for each category.

How to submit your images and the stories behind them:

Please email your images to the Editor, Jennifer Harman, at jennifer.harman@springernature.com with the subject line “BMC Ecology and Evolution Image Competition 2023” and include the following:

Your name:
Affiliation:
Contact details of Research Institute:
Twitter handle (optional):
Category:
Image name:
Description (Max. 250 words):
File type:
Data attribution (if applicable):
I agree to release this image under a Creative Commons License: Y/N

Please attach your image entry to your email.

All images must conform to the following criteria:

• A minimum 300dpi (1831 x 1831 pixels for a raster image).
• In one of the acceptable formats – EPS, PDF (for line drawings), PNG, TIFF, JPEG, BMP, DOC, PPT [Please note that it is the responsibility of the author(s) to obtain permission from the copyright holder to reproduce figures or tables that have previously been published elsewhere.]
• In line with our policies on open access, entry to the competition implies releasing the images under a creative commons license to allow file sharing with proper attribution.

Submit your images now!

We’ll be posting regular updates on the competition in the coming months, so don’t forget to keep up to date by reading our blog or by following us on Twitter @BMC_series

The closing date for entries is the 1st of June 2023, with winners announced in August 2023.

Good luck!