Images of Research Competition 2025

NTU researchers were challenged to express their work in a new light through a single, striking image. Whether a painting, photograph, digital artwork or diagram, each entry aimed to creatively capture the essence of a research project or idea, supported by a short description to bring it to life in an artistic way. Open to researchers from across all NTU Schools and reflecting our three strategic research themes, the winners were celebrated at the Images of Research Showcase and Prizegiving on 7 July, held in NTU’s new Design and Digital Arts building.

Open to NTU researchers at every level – from postgraduate researchers and technicians to early career and senior academics – the competition celebrates the breadth, depth and diversity of research taking place across the university.

Shraddha Bajpai, a Research Assistant from NTU’s School of Science and Technology, took first place with her striking image Last Duct Standing, which received close to 50% of the public vote. Created as part of her research into how long non-coding RNAs influence cancer behaviour, the image offers a vivid glimpse into the complex environment of stage 3 pancreatic cancer – combining scientific insight with haunting beauty.

Shraddha also placed first in the Strategic Research Theme category for Health Innovation.

Their winning entry will be featured in an upcoming issue of LeftLion magazine, which is distributed across Nottingham.

“Captured at 63x magnification using a Leica Thunder microscope at the university’s Medical Technologies Innovation Facility, this image comes from a patient sample diagnosed with stage 3 pancreatic cancer. The blue areas mark the nuclei of individual cells, and red speckles represent molecular signals we're tracking as part of our research into the tumour microenvironment. Our focus is on how long non-coding RNAs, once thought to mere noise in our genes, actively influence the behaviour of both cancer cells and their supportive allies like cancer-associated fibroblasts. This image speaks to the resilience of bodily structures amid overwhelming pathological change - an island slowly engulfed by a transforming landscape. It’s a snapshot of cancer in motion, revealing both its complexity and the beauty of discovery.”

On their win, Shraddha commented:

"Within our micro-niches of research, we get so wound up in mechanism-heavy conversations that we forget to appreciate a lot of the beauty in our images. The Images of Research 2025 competition gave me a bird's eye view of our work and helped me better understand how it resonates with the public. It was a valuable reminder that science can be both intellectually rigorous and aesthetically engaging. I'm even more excited for our research and to uncover even more insights within pancreatic cancer.”