Concurso de representación de Estructuras Cristalinas

En el laboratorio DRX Monocristal SIdI-UAM hemos organizado un concurso de representación de estructuras cristalinas que dará como resultado un calendario para el año 2026. Este concurso se ha realizado en varias ocasiones anteriormente con una gran acogida, por lo que confiamos en que esta IV edición sea igual de exitosa y estaríamos muy agradecidos si pudierais darle difusión en vuestros entornos.  

El concurso está abierto a todo tipo de participantes, desde técnicos y personal relacionado con técnicas de resolución estructural, a profesores, investigadores y estudiantes. ¡Animaos a participar y compartir vuestra visión de las preciosas estructuras cristalinas!

En el siguiente link está el formulario de inscripción:

https://forms.office.com/e/vTNMd9jVvN?origin=lprLink

Para cualquier duda o consulta podéis escribir: crystal.contest@uam.es

Las Bases del concurso son las siguientes:

Art within your crystals is an international crystal structure representation
contest sponsored by Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) and Sección
Territorial de Madrid of Real Sociedad Española de Química (STMadrid RSEQ).
The goal of this contest is to divulge the wonderful world of crystal structures
from an artistic point of view, using pictures and texts both scientifically sound and
illustrative of the inner beauty that crystals possess.

1.- PARTICIPATION
The contest is open to individuals at least 18 years old, presenting original
images created from their own crystal data or from previously published data.
Contestants are solely responsible for lawfully obtaining the represented structural
data. The organization team members and members of the Jury cannot present any
entries in the contest.
Each participant may submit up to 3 entries. Submission of an entry in the
contest constitutes implicit agreement with these rules and warrants that the entry
complies with all of the requisites set out in these rules.
The organisers and sponsors of the contest may use the received images and
texts with scientific dissemination purposes.

2.- REQUIREMENTS
Each entry must include:
2.1. Image: Only original images will be accepted in JPEG, BMP o TIF format.
The minimum size of the files is 2480 x 3508 pixels (equivalent to A4-paper size
with 300 dpi resolution). Submitted files must not exceed 25 MB. Images that do
not comply with these specifications will not be accepted. Should noncrystallographic
elements appear (photographs, drawings, etc), they will not be
the most relevant feature considered by the Jury for the evaluation.
2.2. Personal data and affiliation with a research or academic institution, if
applicable.
2.3. Title and descriptive text for the presented image. The text will be written
in English and should include a brief artistic and accessible description of the
image. Remember that this is an outreach activity: a purely crystallographic or
scientific text (suitable for the description of an illustration in a scientific
manuscript) could not be appropriate.
2.4. Descriptive scientific text of the presented crystalline structure written in
English (this information will only be used by the organizers and the Jury for
validation purposes), including relevant crystallographic information both about
the image and the structure (for instance, symmetry elements, crystallographic
plane represented in the image, etc.). Software used to represent the crystalline
structure must also be specified. If the image was modified by an image editor,
it must also be indicated. In case AI is used to modify some details from the
image, it must be specified, and the image without modifications also sent.
Special care should be taken to avoid altering the crystal structure itself. Images
fully generated by AI will be excluded.
2.5. Data source and crystallographic information file. It is mandatory to
identify the bibliographic cite containing the structural data, and to provide the
crystallographic file (.cif or similar). The corresponding bibliographic citation will
be included in case of an already published structure. If the structure has not
been published or is in the publication phase at the time of participation, it is
recommended to send a simplified .cif1 (without structure factors).
Any participation that does not comply with these requirements or does not
provide all the necessary documentation within the stipulated period will be excluded
from the contest.

3.- PARTICIPATION
A submission form is available for contestants to enter the contest. After
receiving the form, the organization will contact the contestant and send the
instructions to upload the files.
The image, along with all of the other required documents (structural data file
and, optionally, the paper in electronic format in which the solved structure is included),
must be shared using a cloud sharing link or similar means (i.e. OneDrive, iCloud,
Dropbox, WeTransfer) emailing to the address crystal.contest@uam.es

4.- TERM
The period for sending images starts March 1st 2025, and ends
May 15th, 2025.

5.- EVALUATION CRITERIA
Entries will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
5.1. Image: Image quality, aesthetic beauty, structural representation clarity,
originality.
5.2. Title and text: Adequacy of image title, clarity and accuracy of the scientific
text, scientific dissemination skills, originality.

6.- JURY
The Jury members will be selected from fields related to Crystallography and
Art.
Entries will be evaluated anonymously, according to the criteria set in these
rules before the reception of contestant entries.

7.- AWARDS
The Jury will select 12 finalist images that will be included in the 2025
commemorative calendar. The three winners will be selected among these finalists,
and will receive:
1. prize: three copies of the calendar, a T-shirt and a mug.
2. prize: three copies of the calendar and a T-shirt.
3. prize: three copies of the calendar and a mug.
The remaining finalists will receive each a certificate of recognition and two
copies of the commemorative calendar.

8- EXHIBITIONS
All of the valid entries received will be displayed in an online exhibition at
several social media and webpages from the sponsors.
A public exhibition will also be held in the hall of the Facultad de Ciencias (UAM) and
Universidad Miguel Hernández (UMH).