Images of Research

The competition is open to:

• Postgraduate research students (PGR) enrolled at Manchester Met  
• Any member of research staff or teaching and research staff employed at Manchester Met  

Judges’ Choice

There will be two panels responsible for choosing the Judges’ Choice winners. 

There will be a shortlisting and a judging panel, both made up of Academic and Professional Services colleagues from a range of disciplines and expertise. Both the Judges’ Choices and initial shortlisting will be assessed against the following criteria: 

• To what extent does the image engage the viewer and make them want to know more about the research? (third of total score) 
• To what extent does the abstract communicate the story behind the image, to a non-specialist audience? (third of total score) 
• To what extent does the submission as a whole (image and abstract) communicate the beneficial impact of the research on society, culture, the environment or the economy? (third of total score) 

People’s Choice

Visitors to the roadshow and online gallery will be asked to vote for their favourite entry. The entry with the most total votes will be awarded the People’s Choice prize. 

Image 

• Your image should engage the viewer and make them want to know more about your research and its impact. 
• Your image must be a photograph, either portrait or landscape, and can be black and white or colour. It must not include watermarks, borders or signatures. 
• Your entry must be submitted as a high-resolution digital image. This can be digital copy of a photograph taken with film. We would discourage screenshots as the quality of the images do not tend to be high enough quality for printing.   
• Your entry must be formatted as a JPG at least 300dpi with a minimum of 3508 x 4967 pixels. 
• Your image must be a faithful representation of what was captured at the time of the shot being taken. Large-scale digital adjustments are not acceptable. 
• You must have written permission from any identifiable persons (or their legal guardians) contained within the image. Find out more in the Terms and Conditions section. 

Title and Abstract

• You must submit a short title (maximum 10 words) and abstract (maximum 150 words) alongside your image. We will not accept images without a title and abstract. 
• Your abstract should communicate the impact of your research. 
• Your abstract should be written in a language suitable for a non-specialist audience (i.e. written in plain English without using jargon). 

Profile Picture 

• If your image is shortlisted, we would like to include your profile picture as part of our virtual gallery and exhibition, for use on social media and on any promotional materials.
• If you are happy for us to use your profile picture, please send in a photo of yourself along with your entry. Please ensure that the photo is a good quality head / shoulder image of yourself. 

Enter now

By submitting your image and signed application form, you agree to grant Manchester Met a non-exclusive, worldwide irrevocable licence to reuse and/or reproduce works based on your submission. 

Images of Research Terms and Conditions 2021_22

Any images of identifiable people must be accompanied by signed Privacy Notice and Consent forms. For images of minors (under 13 years of age), we require consent from someone with parental responsibility. We are unable to accept any entries without the appropriate form. 

Privacy Notice and Consent Form general

Privacy Notice and Parental Consent Form U13

Writing the Abstract 

As mentioned in the ‘How Will Entries be Assessed?’ section, your entry, which comprises your photograph and abstract, will be judged according to specific criteria. 

To help show what a successful abstract looks like, please check out the shortlisted entries included in the Celebratory Brochures. Whilst all the abstracts were highly individual, took a different approach, and covered a variety of topics, they each succeed in demonstrating the following key characteristics: 

• They provided a coherent narrative that made a connection between the image and the abstract 
• They used non-specialist language and were jargon-free 
• They provided a context for the research 
• They were able to explain the significance and impact of their research

Taking the Photo 

Here are links some with guidance on how to create compelling images.   

https://www.slrlounge.com/techniques-10-characteristic-of-great-photos/ 

http://wordsandphotos.org/Commentary/WhatMakesAPhotoGood.htm 

https://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/elements-of-a-great-photograph/ 

The following links provide tips on how you can communicate your research through images.   

https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/62/5/458/236369 

http://methods.sagepub.com/book/handbook-of-the-arts-in-qualitative-research/n4.xml 

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ed078p1312 

Congratulations to all our shortlisted entries in 2021:

Postgraduate Researchers

Yasmin Chopin

Faculty of Arts and Humanities

Entry: Reflecting on Life and Death

Lara Ferguson

Faculty of Health, Psychology and Social Care

Entry: Navigating Complex Transitions and Future Expectations: Young People Leaving Residential Care

Hannah Elisabeth Jones

Faculty of Arts and Humanities

Entry: Can Bio-Based Materials Replace Single-Use Plastics?

Michael Jones

Faculty of Science and Engineering

Entry: The UAV Revolution

Alice Thickett

Faculty of Arts and Humanities

Entry: Collaged Hybrids Under Analysis

Researchers

Chesney Craig

Faculty of Health, Psychology and Social Care

Entry: Balancing Research During the Pandemic: A Double Entendre

Reece Garcia

Faculty of Business and Law

Entry: Steely Determination? Constructions of Masculinity in a Deindustrialised Steelworker Community

Cosmin Popan

Faculty of Arts and Humanities

Entry: Waiting for an Order

Barbara Shepherd

Faculty of Arts and Humanities

Entry: Re-designing PPE for Clinical Use During the Pandemic

See all the entries

You can view all the entries received in this slideshow video.

These celebratory brochures contain all the eligible entries submitted into the Images of Research competitions.

Please take a look to find out more about the exciting work being completed by our early career and postgraduate researchers. The collection clearly reflects the diversity and quality of the research taking place at Manchester Met. 

Download the Images of Research eBrochure 2022

Download the Images of Research eBrochure 2021

Download the Images of Research eBrochure 2020‌

Download the Images of Research eBrochure 2019