RESEARCH IMAGE
COMPETITION 2026

The competition is a wonderful opportunity to have your research imagery displayed across the DiRAC platform, on our website, on social media, and in print media and will help promote interest in your area of scientific study.

There are two categories for submission and the winners of each category will be selected by a panel of experts.

The best image in each category will be awarded a £250 Amazon e-voucher.

Theme 1: Particle and Nuclear Physics

Theme 2: Astronomy, Cosmology and Solar & Planetary Science

Any imagery submitted to this competition could be used in future marketing/publicity materials relating to DiRAC in either digital or print and as such, should have visual impact and scientific interest. We will be producing a 2027 DiRAC calendar, the imagery for which will be drawn from the submissions to this competition and a selection of the top images will be displayed at our annual DiRAC Day event.

Entry requirements:

• Images must be generated as a result of research work carried out using the DiRAC facility
• Images should not be older than three years
• Digital images must be submitted in one of the following formats: JPEG, TIFF, PNG or PDF
• All entries must be accompanied by an entry form (see details below)
• Entires should be accompanied by a short description, of no more than 100 words, giving scientific context to the image and the DiRAC compute resource used in the research
• Images may be generated specifically for this competition, but should result from research performed within the last 3 years
• Author names should be included
• Up to three submissions may be made per person
• Images should be of a sufficient size and resolution (300 dpi minimum)
• File sizes should not be larger than 20mb
• Competition opens Wednesday 9th September
• Submit using the form below until the  deadline of 23:59, Wednesday 14th October 2026.