Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition 2023: 16 Striking Images Taken By Scientists

The winners of the 49th annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition have been revealed. This year’s first-place prize was awarded to Hassanain Qambari, assisted by Jayden Dickson for his image of a rodent optic nerve head. The second-place winner is Ole Bielfeldt with his image of a matchstick igniting against the surface of a matchbox. Third place was awarded to Malgorzata Lisowska for her image of breast cancer cells.

In addition to the top three winners, the Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition recognized 83 photos out of nearly 1,900 photo entries from 72 countries.

“The past 49 years of this competition have borne witness to many innovative and pioneering advancements in scientific imaging technology,” Eric Flem, Senior Manager, CRM and Communications at Nikon Instruments, said. “I am consistently awed by how these advancements make it possible to create art out of science for the public to enjoy,” he added.

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16 PHOTOS

#1 2nd Place - Ole Bielfeldt

Nikon Small World is very well known for being the leading forum where people celebrate the skill and beauty of photomicrography.

Competition organizers shared that there are 4 factors to consider when evaluating submissions: originality, informational content, technical proficiency, and visual impact. To select the winners, judges looked at entries that came from all around the globe.

#2 20th Place - Daniel Castranova And Dr. Brant M. Weinstein

#3 3rd Place - Malgorzata Lisowska

The judges of the 2023 Nikon Small World Competition were: Ed Cara, Science and Health Reporter at Gizmodo, James Cutmore, Picture Editor at BBC Science Focus Magazine, Dr. Gary Laevsky, Director of the Confocal Imaging Facility at Princeton University, Dr. Igor Siwanowicz, Research Scientist at Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Dr. Clare Waterman, Cell Biologist and Member of the National Academy of Sciences.

#4 8th Place - Stefan Eberhard

#5 Image Of Distinction - Priscilla Vieto Bonilla And Brandon Antonio Segura Torres

The Nikon Small World competition was founded in 1974 and in 2011, Nikon Small World in Motion was launched because of advancements in technology that made it possible to record videos or digital time-lapse photos through a microscope. 

The 2023 video winners were announced on September 26th.

#6 4th Place - John-Oliver Dum

Medienbunker Produktion
Bendorf, Rheinland Pfalz, Germany

"Venomous fangs of a small tarantula."

#7 14th Place - John-Oliver Dum

Medienbunker Produktion
Bendorf, Rheinland Pfalz, Germany

"Sunflower pollen on an acupuncture needle."

Hassanain Qambari, the first-place winner, shared: “The Nikon Small World competition is great, as it showcases amazing work across many disciplines from around the world. All the images presented in the competition represent the beauty and artistic side of science which may otherwise get overlooked. Such a competition not only celebrates the participants' hard work and passion but may also draw and inspire young scientists to pursue a career in STEM. It certainly inspired me.”

#8 12th Place - Sherif Abdallah Ahmed

Tanta University
Faculty of Science
Department of Zoology
Tanta, Egypt

"Cuckoo wasp standing on a flower."

#9 17th Place - Yuan Ji

World Expo Museum
Shanghai, China

"Chinese moon moth (Actias ningpoana) wing scales."

Calling all scientists, photography, and video enthusiasts! The Nikon Small World Competition, marking its 50th anniversary in 2024, invites everyone to join in. To be part of this incredible milestone, you can upload your digital images and videos directly on nikonsmallworld.com. Entry forms for Nikon’s 2024 Small World and Small World in Motion Competitions are available at enter.nikonsmallworld.com.

#10 Image Of Distinction - Dr. Frantisek Bednar

Svosov, Zilinsky, Slovakia

"Slime mold (Trichia crateriformis)."

#11 Image Of Distinction - Dr. Håkan Kvarnström

Bromma, Stockholm, Sweden

"Amoeba (Arcella)."

#12 Image Of Distinction - Walter Machielsen

Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands

"Buckthorn trichomes."

#13 1st Place - Hassanain Qambari And Jayden Dickson

Lions Eye Institute
Department of Physiology & Pharmacology
Perth, Western Australia, Australia

"Rodent optic nerve head showing astrocytes (yellow), contractile proteins (red), and retinal vasculature (green)."

#14 11th Place - Dr. Diego García

Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Real Sociedad Española de Física
Madrid, Spain

"Crystallized sugar syrup."

#15 Image Of Distinction - Alison Pollack

San Anselmo, California, USA

"Slime mold (Diderma tigrinum)."

#16 5th Place - Dr. David Maitland

Feltwell, Norfolk, United Kingdom

"Auto-fluorescing defensive hairs covering the leaf surface of Eleagnus angustifolia exposed to UV light."