The Galician Institute of High Energy Physics (IGFAE) announces the 6th edition of the Science Communication Competition (IGFAE C3), which aims to promote interest in scientific culture and stimulate the learning of Physics and its foundations. Divided into four categories that aim to develop different communication skills and using virtual tools and the Internet, the contest is open to people from any country.
This activity is an initiative of the IGFAE Outreach group, is part of the 6th IGFAE Science Week and is co-financed by the ERDF Operational Program Galicia 2014-2020.
Who can participate?
People from all over the world can participate, with special emphasis on research staff from public research organizations; in doctoral, master and degree students; in students of Secondary and High School and teachers who work in the field of teaching Physics, as well as professionals of scientific dissemination and journalists.
The contributions may be presented individually or in groups. In the latter case, the names of all persons in the group must be stated, and the contact person acting as representative must also be specified. The contributions may be submitted in several categories, but only one prize may be won in one category.
What are the categories?
- Scientific photography
- Outreach articles
- Informative videos
- Original projects
How can you participate?
Please register by sending the requested documentation for each category to the respective e-mail addresses provided:
- Scientific photography: fotos-C3-2023@igfae.usc.es
- Informative articles: artigos-C3-2023@igfae.usc.es
- Informative videos: videos-C3-2023@igfae.usc.es
- Original project: proxectos-C3-2023@igfae.usc.es
1. Scientific photography
Participants will submit a scientific photograph with a subject related to Physics, especially that which is the object of study in the IGFAE’s research areas. Each participant may submit a digitalised image taken with any equipment, professional or amateur, including mobile phones. The photograph submitted must be original, unpublished (not published in the media) and not submitted to competitions. In this case, the author will be immediately disqualified.
The photograph must be attached by e-mail and be accompanied by a title and a brief description (5 to 10 lines). It must be in JPG format and with a maximum size of 5 MB. Photographs may not be altered electronically or by any other means. Photomontages or images created with the support of artificial intelligence tools will not be accepted. Only colour and luminosity corrections will be allowed.
2. Outreach articles
Participants will submit a popular science article (story, interview, report, story, news, etc.) on a topic related to Physics, especially one that is the object of study in the IGFAE research areas. They may be written in Galician, Spanish or English, with a maximum length of 1,200 words and must be sent in a free format PDF file.
Both unpublished texts and articles published in the media (in this case between 1 November 2022 and 31 October 2023) are eligible. Texts created with the support of artificial intelligence tools will not be accepted.
3. Outreach videos
Participants will submit an informative video on a topic related to Physics, especially one that is the object of study of the IGFAE research areas. The maximum length of the video will be 5 minutes, with no lower limit. It will be made in Galician, Spanish or English and all kinds of audiovisual resources can be used (music, special effects, animations, other support videos, if they do not violate copyright and images generated by artificial intelligence tools are not used, etc).
4. Original projects
Participants will submit a work or project, original and unpublished, on a topic related to Physics, especially that which is the object of study of the IGFAE’s research areas. The work or project will follow a free format that does not fit into any of the above categories; otherwise, they will be included in one of them. They must be presented in Galician, Spanish or English and in such a way that the jury can visualize them correctly, through files in common text, image or video formats that do not require specific software (PDF, MP4, JPG, etc.). The jury can discard a work if it presents errors or difficulties to be opened.
Jury and selection criteria
The contributions received will be evaluated by a panel made up of IGFAE research staff, which may include external experts.
In the “Outreach videos” category, all the works received that meet the requirements will be uploaded to the IGFAE YouTube channel and published on the IGFAE website. 50% of the assessment will be by popular vote on Instagram (25%) and considering the views on YouTube (25%). The other half will be the result of the application of the criteria of the jury.
In the evaluation of the works, the rigor and quality of the concepts presented, originality and interest of the topic, adaptation to the objectives of the contest and, above all, the ability to communicate the content to a non-expert public will be considered.
The decisions of the jury will be communicated during the 6th Science Week in November (date to be announced).
Juries can declare any category void and award one or more honorable mentions. The decisions of the jury will be final.
What is the deadline for registrations?
The registration period for the contest ends on 31st October 2023 at 23:59 (Santiago de Compostela time).
What are the prizes?
There will be one prize per category: 400 euros for the best photograph, 400 euros for the best article, 400 euros for the best video and 400 euros for the best original project. All the prizes are subject to the corresponding tax obligations in accordance with the provisions of current regulations.
In the event of a prize being awarded to a work presented by a group, the prize will be divided equally among all the members.
Each of the prize recipients must comply with the legal and fiscal obligations derived from obtaining the prize. The IGFAE will not be responsible in any case for the non-fulfilment of the fiscal and legal obligations of the prize recipients.
Intellectual Property Rights
The presentation to the contest implies that the participants are the original authors of the submitted works, that they are the legitimate owners of all their own rights and that they do not violate the rights of third parties. If this guarantee is proven false, and / or if actions are initiated by third parties to defend the rights over the work, images or compositions, the participants will be responsible for this violation, the organization being exonerated of all responsibility.
Participation in the contest implies the free transfer to IGFAE of the non-exclusive rights of reproduction, distribution, and public communication of the awarded works or those with an honorable mention from the IGFAE website, printed or digital media. In the same way, the IGFAE could assign them to magazines, journals, publishers, or non-profit companies for their dissemination activities at a national and international level.
The winners will be able to publish the works by the means they consider appropriate, if they state that they received an award in this contest.
Any personal data sent to the organization will be used only for contest management.
Modification of the rules of the competition
The organization reserves the right to modify any point of these rules if the circumstances require it. This would be publicized through the IGFAE Science Week 2023 website.
