In science, as in art, the practitioner pursues moments of discovery when observations become greater than the sum of their parts and begin to reveal an untold story. The Art of Science initiative recognizes the creative and experimental nature of science and challenges UC Santa Barbara researchers to visually communicate the beauty inherent to scientific investigations.
These are the winning images from the 2022 Art of Science competition.
1st Place
Lights, Camera, Action
Artist: Jonah Rosas, graduate student
Department: Biomolecular Science and Engineering
The mini-pancreas organs in this image are called pancreas organoids. They are tissue-derived structures that help researchers understand how cells build complex organs.
2nd Place
Tensellation
Artist: Katya Morozov, undergraduate student
Department: BioEngineering
This image is a “heat map” showing relative tensions felt by individual cells in a kidney tissue; red correlates with high tension and purple correlates with low.
3rd Place
Growing Patterns in a Digital Petri Dish
Artist: Mert Toka, graduate student
Department: Media Arts and Technology
This work simulates the behaviors of ants and birds in a digital petri dish environment to investigate the aesthetic qualities of their self-organizing behavior.
People's Choice
Little Worm, Big Impact
Artist: Chee Kiang Ewe, graduate student
Department: Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
The humble nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans offers a simple and highly trackable system to study cellular behavior during development.
To view the full gallery of entries from this year and previous years, visit the Art of Science Gallery website.
