Illustrations score high in Science is Beautiful competition

The Charles University Faculty of Science’s pre-Christmas concert, at which Jaroslav Svěcený introduced the audience to the mysteries of the Baroque violin, had an unconventional start, as the winners of the fourth edition of the Science is Beautiful competition were announced.

According to its organisers, the goal of the Science is Beautiful competition is to communicate to the wider public the, often unknown, beauty and aesthetic encountered by scientists in the course of their work. The competition was open to photographs, illustrations and computer-generated images. For the first time this year, the competition was not open to only the University’s academic community, but also to registered members of the Scientists project. Two parallel competitions took place – the academic competition (in four different categories, with the winner being chosen by an expert jury) and the discovery competition (winner selected by a faculty jury).

“I am very pleased that this year’s competition mainly focused on illustrations, although the standard of entries in other categories has been very high. I am also glad that the top spots were taken not only by experienced photographers, but also new names from the student and academic communities,” said competition organiser Martin Černý.

Following the announcement of the results, concert attendees could enjoy a programme of baroque by famous, and not-so-famous, composers, as performed by Jaroslav and Julie Svěcený (violin) and Prof. Jitka Navrátilová (harpsichord). Commentary was by Jaroslav Svěcený, who brought with him several Baroque period instruments, each with its own, interesting history, which was described to the audience in detail before the performance of individual pieces.

Following the end of concert, attendees were able to view an exhibition of the winning entries and enjoy a glass of wine with the faculty administrators.

Competition results:

Scientific Microphotography (photography from optical and electron microscopes) category

1^stArgas persicus

2^nd

3^rd

Scientific Photography (from macrophotography to satellite or astronomical images) category

1^st

2^nd

3^rd

Scientific Illustrations (science communicated via pen, brush or Photoshop) category

1^st

2^nd

3^rd

Virtual Nature (the natural world via the computer) category

1^st

2^nd

3^rd

Discovery category

1^st

2^ndHomotherium

3^rdAnchomenusPanurusbiarmicus

Viewers’ competition

Karolína Švrčková (Horse (Action Shot) – illustration)