First Prize and winner of Public Vote

Andrew Sole: Department of Geography
Tracing water flow beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Fluorescent dye and gas are injected into meltwater flowing into a moulin (a vertical shaft linking the ice surface and bed) on the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS). Water flowing along the base of the ice affects the speed at which the glacier flows. However, considerable controversy surrounds whether the ice would overall flow faster or slower with the extra surface melt expected due to climate warming. Examining the flow paths and speed of water at the ice bed enables us to better understand the complex relationship between surface melt and ice flow and thus to improve predictions of the ice sheet’s contribution to global sea level rise.

Second Prize

James Marshall, Martin Highett, Thomas Schlegel, Beverly Inkson: Department of Computer Science
Golden Ant

This research from the Universities of Sheffield and Bristol aims to understand how colonies of social insects like ants make collective decisions about which homes to move into.   The RFID tag  (0.5mm across) on the ant's back is a unique identifier that can be read with a laser, allowing us to keep track of decisions an individual makes and how this contributes to the decisions of a colony. 

Third Prize

Moritz Muschick, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
Just another pine needle....

This image shows an undescribed species of walking stick insect (Timema spec) from California, camouflaged on its host, the White Fir.  This, and other closely related species are specialized to live on very different host plants and at different elevations.  These ecological specialisations most probably have triggered the splitting into distinct species.  The results of this research will advance our understanding of how biodiversity forms generally.

Category 2:  People

Images that show the people and personalities behind the research.

First Prize

Dharaminder Singh, Department of Materials Science & Engineering
Its so small.....

This image shows the triumph of weeks of effort that went into creating 3D printed nerve channels with topographical surface features. The use of intricate surface features could aid and direct nerve regeneration. The surface topographies and manufacturing techniques could be used to help design more effective nerve guide conduits; used in hospitals worldwide.

Second Prize

Gemma Lyons, SCHARR
Researching the prevalence of malnutrition among elderly people in Nepal

Rajani, an Masters in Public Health student, assisted with data collection for my dissertation research into the prevalence of malnutrition among elderly people in Pharping, Nepal. This involved a survey as well as anthropometric measurements for height and weight. No research had previously been conducted into geriatric malnutrition at the community level in Nepal.

Third Prize

Jon Leary, E-Futures DTC
In his Element

Scoraig, an isolated community on the Northwest coast of Scotland, is the home of Hugh Piggott, internationally renowned small wind turbine guru. Hugh’s design for a small wind turbine that can be manufactured locally in developing countries has been employed across the globe in every single continent. My research focusses on seeing a wind turbine installed in a community as a socio-technical system where issues such as who performs maintenance and how a service network is set up are seen as equally important as the technology itself.

Category 3: Esoterica

A category to encourage the unusual and experimental, whateverthe technique or processing method. All weird and wonderful entries were welcomed.

First Prize

Guy Brown, Department of Computer Science
Anton

AnTon is a biomimetic talking robot, developed by Dr Robin Hofe of the Department of Computer Science in order to study the mechanisms of speech production. Robin has used AnTon to collect data about the amount of energy that is required to produce different speech sounds. This has improved our understanding of the many kinds of variation that occur in natural spoken language.  The photograph is an ambrotype, made directly on glass plate in a Victorian camera.

Second Prize

Nick Warren, Department of Chemistry
Nanojellyfish

This image shows an electron microscopy image of a nano-object which spontaneously forms from a synthetic polymer material. This remarkable structure is approximately 500 nm across. The image has been artificially coloured blue to mimic a jellyfish in its natural environment. This research within the Armes group in the Department of Chemistry aims to produce a wide variety of nanoparticles which have a wide range of applications such as anti-reflective surface coatings for solar cells and for the delivery of poorly soluble drugs.

Third Prize

Hannah Russ & Ron Adams, Department of Archaeology
Ling Skull

Fish have been an important part of the diet of communities throughout history and the bones left behind can reveal surprising detail not only of the diet but of the lifestyle of those communities. This is the skull of a ling, a member of the cod family.

Very Highly Commended

In alphabetical order.

Ben Cherry, Department of Animal & Plant Sciences
Daunting equipment on a tiny subject

This image was taken by undergraduate Zoology student Ben Cherry with a specialist macro lens to capture the detail of a tiny pea aphid attached to an electronic physiology measurement system.  The research, carried out by David Hopkins, investigates whether aphid feeding and plant choice are driving speciation factors.  Through this experiment, David hopes to see if aphids are discriminating plant species by their chemistry, thus changing their feeding habits between plants. 

Adam Harding, Integrated Biology, School of Clinical Dentistry
Neuroma formation entering a nerve graft

Often when nerves are cut the gap between the two severed nerve ends will require bridging with nerve tissue taken from a less important nerve - this is called a nerve graft. When regenerating nerve fibres cross the joins between the nerve graft and the original nerve ends they can be obstructed by scar tissue and form into a painful disorganised mass called a neuroma. This image shows regenerating nerve fibres entering a nerve graft becoming disrupted and forming a neuroma.

Richard Morton, School of Mathematics & Statistics
Solving the mystery of the million degree atmosphere.

The surface of the Sun has a temperature of 6000 degrees and, surprisingly, as we move further away from the sun the temperature of the Sun's gaseous atmosphere rises to a few million degrees. This rise in temperature has puzzled scientists since 1887.  It is thought that the Sun's magnetic field plays an important role in the heating process.  The magnetic field is thought to guide strong outflows of gas which may be heated by an explosive phenomenon known as Ellerman bombs. 

Stewart Husband, Department of Civil Engineering
What hosepipe ban?

To investigate the effects on drinking water quality as it travels miles underground in the hidden network of pipes, we need to get at it. Discoloured (or dirty) water is caused by material on pipe walls being dislodged by changes in flows. By "flushing", as shown in the image, frictional forces on the pipe wall are increased causing accumulated material to be dislodged and entrained into the flow. Using the latest monitoring devices we can record these changes and ultimately develop operational and maintenance strategies that allow Water Companies to reduce the risk of discolouration and so provide the best quality drinking water to our taps.

Daniel Toolan, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Kaleidoscope

The image depicts the morphology formed when plastic type materials undergo phase separation, a process driven by the same phenomena that causes oil to float on top of water.  These materials have applications in both solar cells and LEDs.  We are trying to understand the process of phase separation in order to produce more efficient solar cells and brighter LEDs.  The image was taken using a Nikon DS-Ri1 camera on a reflection microscope.