Winners of the Science in the Time of Covid Graphic Art Contest
As part of the 2021 EFRC-Hub-CMS-CCS Principal Investigators’ Meeting, the Department of Energy’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences (DOE BES) sponsored a Science in the Time of Covid Contest. Following the BES tradition, during each meeting there is an optional contest designed to educate, inspire, and entertain an intelligent but not expert audience about the extraordinary science, innovation, and people in the Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC), Energy Innovation Hubs, and Computational Materials and Chemical Sciences (CMS/CCS) Projects. Since early 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted all aspects of our lives, including how science is done. The BES Centers were asked to capture with graphic art how the scientific endeavor has changed. The graphic art could be a cartoon, photograph, collage, drawing, or any other medium that can be displayed in a static image.
15 teams took up the challenge, and submitted a collection of images that capture what it’s like to be a scientist in the midst of a global pandemic. The Office of Science is pleased to announce the five winning entries and the People’s Choice Award:
First Place
Nevertheless she persisted (over Zoom)
Quantum Sensing and Quantum Materials (QSQM) Led by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Special Award: Collaboration Takes Down Walls
Open Cell Walls of Communication
Center for Lignocellulose Structure and Formation (CLSF) led by Pennsylvania State University
Special Award: Best Unification of Mixed Media
MXene Discovery During COVID-19 Pandemic
Fluid Interface Reactions, Structures and Transport (FIRST) led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory
The entry that received the most votes from the public from September 27 to October 15, 2021 11:59 pm was given the People’s Choice Award at the Principal Investigators’ Meeting on October 18, 2021.
The winning images were selected by an expert panel of judges:
- Bibiana Campos-Seijo is the Editor-in-Chief of Chemical & Engineering News and VP of C&EN Media Group.
- Val Altounian is a Senior Scientific Illustrator at Science Magazine
- AnneMarie Horowitz is a U.S. Department of Energy Public Affairs Specialist and the Director of STEM Rising, the go-to resource for all-things-STEM at the Department of Energy.
More information about the programs is available on the official website: Energy Frontier Research Centers.