Following on from last year’s success, our Durham Research Methods Centre (DRMC) ran their annual Picturing Research competition earlier this year.

Now in its second year, Picturing Research is an online competition showcasing research conducted by research staff and postgraduate researchers at Durham. The idea is for the researcher to capture their research in one image with the support of a 100-word description.

The competition aims to highlight the contributions and impact of our researchers to society, locally and globally and is inspired by DRMC’s focus on ‘designing novel methods to tackle complex, real-world challenges’.

Dr Cristina Costa, Co-Director (DRMC), who brought the idea of the Picturing Research competition to Durham said:

This competition is a real opportunity to promote the diversity and excellence in research happening across the University. It is a celebration of the remarkable achievements of our research community.

Cristina continued: ''The competition is also a way to challenge the portrayal of research via the use of photography. It is a chance to communicate research in less standard ways, and at the same time it can be fun as it appeals to a different form of research creativity. We are incredibly proud of our vibrant and innovative research community and look forward to hosting our third competition next year.”

DRMC received 25 entries to the competition this year and submissions were judged on the following criteria:

• Pictorial effect: the picture is striking, stands out and entices the viewer to want to know more about the message it aims to convey.
• Creativity: the research is represented in a unique and original way
• Communication: the combination of the picture and caption conveys research ideas in an accessible way

The winners of this year’s competition were announced on Wednesday 15 May at the DRMC’s Christine Merrell Annual Methods Lecture.

Afsana Afrin Esha, a research postgraduate student in our Geography Department, won the competition for her submission of ‘Water Warrior’.

Water Warrior

When asked what it meant to win the competition Afsana told us: "I have always been passionate about sharing stories, and this photo was my attempt to encapsulate the truth and share the struggles people in parts of coastal Bangladesh go through every day. Winning the picture competition validates my efforts and inspires me to continue using photography as a medium to communicate the impactful stories behind my research. I'm deeply grateful for this opportunity."

Dr Cristina Costa (left) presenting Afsana with her certificate.

Second place for ‘Echoes of Bamboo: Divination and Tradition at the Edge of Modernity’ went to Shaoding Dong, a research postgraduate from Anthropology, and Shivani Daxini also a postgraduate student from Anthropology won third place for ‘My field site being repaired'.

Congratulations to the winners!

View all entries for the Picturing Research competition 2024.