Images of Research

Images of Research, collage of 2022 winners

In academia, the act of research often goes unseen. The Graduate School’s Images of Research competition seeks to make graduate student and postdoc research visible in a literal sense: an image contest! The Graduate School will promote your images in these possible ways: displayed at the 3MT contest, posted to the OPD Instagram, displayed on the Graduate School webpage, and displayed in Goodell. 

What should the image be?
The image submitted can represent your work either concretely or abstractly. Perhaps it is an image of your research itself, an activity related to your research, or the impact of your research. You can create an image or collage or illustration to represent your work, your time at UMass, your field site, library or lab, your research subject, the tools you use for your research, or an actual image that is part of your research! “Research” is defined broadly to include creative and scholarly work in all fields.

What should the caption be?
In addition to the image, you will submit a short caption (up to about 50 words) that helps the viewer to understand the image. The caption should be tailored for a broad audience and will be shared on Instagram! And brevity is not bad! (You may also suggest hashtags!)

Submit your image here!

Dates:
Submission deadline: February 2, 2024.
The announcement of the winners will occur at the 3MT Campus Final in March.

Prize: 
There are 3 prizes: A "Graduate School Favorite" award valued at $50 will be given to the photo chosen by the Graduate School Staff. A "People's Choice" award valued at $100 will be given to the photo chosen live by attendees of the 3MT Campus Final on March 3, 2023. An “Instagram Favorite” award valued at $100 will be given to the photo with the most likes on OPD's Instagram.

To See the Previous Finalists!
You can see all of the previous finalists on OPD's Instagram with the hashtag #UMassGradImages. 

Questions?

jyunker [at] grad [dot] umass [dot] edu (Contact us for more information) on OPD’s Image of Research competition.

More Information for Participants:

UMass Amherst graduate students and postdocs from any discipline are welcome to participate if they meet all the eligibility requirements. Students must be enrolled full-time as a graduate student at UMass Amherst and be in good academic standing. All UMass Amherst full-time postdoctoral researchers, regardless of discipline or funding source, are eligible. All participants should submit an image from their own independent academic research.

You must be the creator of the image. You are responsible for ensuring that any images that you might use in the creation of your image either fall under fair use or that relevant permissions have been sought and any necessary release forms have been signed. The submission form will require you to verify that you have all the necessary permissions to share this image.

Images should be the best quality image that you can provide. Please make sure your image file meets the following requirements: Your image must be in TIFF, JPEG, or JPEG2 format and must be at least 3MB, but no more than 100MB. If your file fails to meet these criteria, your submission may be rejected or we may ask for changes before accepting your submission.

You must agree to the permissions agreement in the submission form that allows the University to display and provide access to your image. The Graduate School will use the images in a possible 4 ways: displayed at the 3MT contest, posted to the OPD Instagram, displayed on the Graduate School webpage, and displayed in an on-campus building.

In the submission form, you will need to agree to this 3MT media release form: "I authorize UMass non-exclusive and royalty-free permission to use my image and accompanying text, in whole or in part, in all manner and forms of media. If I wish to revoke permission to use my image, I must do so in writing to the Graduate School. If I am the copyright owner, by accepting this license, I still retain copyright to my work and do not give up the right to submit the work to publishers or other repositories."

Finalists (as chosen by a committee of Graduate School employees) will be displayed during the 3MT contest in March 2022 and posted to the OPD Instagram. The committee of Graduate School employees will also choose a "Graduate School Favorite" for an award valued at $50. A "People's Choice" award valued at $100 will be given to the photo chosen live by attendees of the 3MT Campus Final in March 2021. A “Instagram Favorite” award valued at $100 will be given to the photo with the most likes on OPD's Instagram.