Anyone who does research in Vienna or the wider metropolitan region, including institutions such as ISTA and IIASA. This includes PhD students, postdocs, professors, and researchers at every career stage, as well as data managers, research librarians, lab managers, and science communicators. No formal institutional affiliation is required, and Austrian citizenship is not required.
A series of 3 to 10 images from a single research project. The images should belong together. The jury evaluates the series as a whole, not individual shots. Each image needs its own title, description, and method.
Between 2 MB and 20 MB per file. Accepted formats: JPEG, PNG, TIFF, WebP, and HEIC (what an iPhone produces by default). Documentary images straight from your research are ideal, including images produced directly by scientific instruments such as microscopes or imaging equipment. Standard adjustments (brightness, contrast, white balance) are permitted; composites and AI-generated content are not eligible. Astronomy and space imagery is outside the scope of this call, and images should show the science as it really is rather than an overly dramatized or mythologized take on it.
Yes. You must be the sole copyright holder of every image you submit. Images produced by a colleague or third-party photographer are not eligible unless you are the confirmed rights holder.
All submitted images may be featured in the Vienna Research Radar, WWTF's report, social media, and other science communication activities, always with full attribution (name, institution, image title). By submitting you grant WWTF a non-exclusive licence for these purposes.
Yes, as long as you hold the copyright. If images were produced collaboratively, confirm with your co-authors or institution that you have the right to submit them individually.
After the deadline, WWTF staff carry out a formal check of every entry's eligibility. An independent jury appointed by WWTF then evaluates every eligible entry against four equally weighted criteria: visual impact and aesthetics of the series, scientific significance, originality, and accessibility of the description. The first criterion also captures how the images work together as a series. The jury's decision is final.
Winners will be announced in Q1 2027. All submitters will be notified by email, and results will be publicly announced via the WWTF website and the Vienna Research Radar.
Write to Therese Aigner at
therese.aigner@wwtf.at with a brief description of the issue. We aim to respond within one working day.