2022 #Photochimica competition winners revealed
The winners of the 2022 #Photochimica competition have been announced, honouring talented photographers taking pictures of chemistry in everyday life.
The competition, hosted by the Royal Society of Chemistry and the European Young Chemists' Network (EYCN), invited individuals to submit images based on this year's theme.
'Chemistry in everyday life' was chosen as the basis for the fourth and latest edition of the competition, with the 12 best selected to feature in a special 2024 calendar.
Winning entries announced
Four judges each compiled their 10 favourites from a shortlist of 20 photos. There was also a popular vote that let the public have their say.
Sarah Bierbaumer's 'Jigsaw Cabbage' was named as the jury's winner. Puzzle pieces - made of cooked red cabbage leaves - were filled with cabbage juice of varying pHs and combined to create a colourful jigsaw.
Meanwhile, 'Fluorescent Rainbow' by Gianluigi Albano won the popular vote. The image, which was also among the judges' top six, features a colourful array of liquids inside jars against a black backdrop.
'Fall Chemistry Trapped in a Vial' by Maciek Majdecki was the popular vote runner-up and also made the jury's top six, while Marie Perrin's 'Chemistry is Everywhere' was named as the runner-up by the jury.
All of the entries selected for inclusion in the calendar can be seen above.
Entries flood in from across the globe
This marked the second time the Royal Society of Chemistry has partnered with the EYCN on this project, which attracted entries from 14 countries this year.
Past president Professor Tom Welton, a professor of sustainable chemistry at Imperial College London, and former chief executive Robert Parker were the Royal Society of Chemistry's representatives on the judging panel.
They were joined by EYCN judges Floris Rutjes, professor at Radboud University and European Chemical Society president, and Liva Dzene, assistant professor at Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Mulhouse and EYCN secretary.
EYCN chair Maximilian Menche said of the competition: "We are happy to have received many different submissions in this edition of the contest highlighting a variety of aspects of chemistry in everyday life.
"Now, we are delighted to share the winners with the chemical community and are excited to continue to share and discuss the role of chemistry in our society and environments."
Professor Welton added of the popular vote winner: "Not only does this photograph show the beauty that can be created with chemistry, by using the colours of the LGBT+ rainbow flag, the competition winners are also telling everyone that they are welcome in the chemical science. This is a beautiful idea given with a beautiful image."
Visit the EYCN website to learn more about their activities; you can also see entries from previous years.