- The winning works of the CEDENNA Images Competition 2025 will be part of the 2026 Wall Calendar and the traveling exhibition Images of the Nanoworld, among other outreach activities of the center
The Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (CEDENNA) announced the winners of the 2025 CEDENNA Images Contest, a science outreach initiative that recognizes images obtained from cutting-edge research and seeks to bring the nanoworld closer to the public through visual language.
After an evaluation process conducted by a jury of seven researchers, three winning works were selected, considering criteria of technical quality, creativity, and contribution to the dissemination of nanoscience and nanotechnology.
First Place was awarded to the work “Rock Art,” by Drs. Pedro Chana Cuevas and Patricia Díaz Saldívar, an image that transforms lipid nanoparticles into a composition that evokes ancestral symbols, combining scientific research with a powerful visual message.
Second place went to “Violeta,” by Victoria Flores del Pino and Dr. Patricia Díaz Saldívar, a microscopic image of embryonic kidney cells treated with iron oxide nanoparticles. Their arrangement resembles the petals of a flower, allowing for a visual understanding of key processes in nanomedicine.
Third place was awarded to “Rumbo al Horizonte Neural” (Heading Towards the Neural Horizon), by Fabián Araneda Martínez. At first glance, the image appears to be a bird crossing a sunset, but it actually depicts a star-shaped gold nanoparticle designed for advanced biomedical applications. The work serves as a visual metaphor for the journey of these particles through complex biological barriers.
A competition with a long history and a public vocation
The CEDENNA Images Competition has been held for several years and has become a platform for the convergence of science, art, and outreach, inviting researchers to share images obtained through microscopy, simulations, and other scientific techniques, often invisible to the human eye.
The selected works are not only recognized for their scientific and aesthetic value, but also bring to life the exhibition Images of the Nanoworld, a science outreach exhibition promoted by CEDENNA that has been displayed in various educational and cultural venues, bringing cutting-edge research closer to students, teachers, and the general public.
These images are also included in the book Images of the Nanoworld, a digital science publication that can be downloaded for free from the website www.cedenna.cl, and which compiles a selection of the competition's most outstanding works over the years.
Science that is observed, understood, and shared
CEDENNA emphasizes that this initiative is part of a sustained strategy to link science and society, which seeks to show that nanoscience and nanotechnology not only have an impact on areas such as health, energy or new materials, but can also be understood and appreciated through images.
Through the CEDENNA Images Competition, the Center is committed to new ways of communicating science, capable of arousing curiosity, wonder and understanding, and of bringing the work carried out in laboratories closer to people's daily lives.
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