The second photography contest of the MuDiB - Museo Diffuso Bicocca and the Area Servizi Culturali e Documentali, was born from the need to tell the story of the life of the University of Milan-Bicocca, its neighborhood and the places that host its poles through a shared narrative, which uses photography as a privileged tool in rendering this complex, articulated and constantly changing reality.
The decision to ask the university community of the Milan, Monza, Bergamo, Lecco and Sondrio campuses and of the MaRHE Center in the Maldives, the citizens of the Bicocca neighborhood and those who work and operate in these territories to take photographs, is motivated by the intent to tell, with one or more images, the relationship of people with science in everyday and contemporary life.
The contest invites participants to tell, through images, the deep connection that connects us to science; it aims to collect photographs that reveal the connections between the people, places and scientific instruments that permeate the university campus environment and the surrounding area, celebrating science as a reality that is not just confined to laboratories or classrooms, but is intrinsic to every corner of our lives. Photographs should explore the connections between personal everyday life - made up of living, studying and working - and the world of science, understood in its broadest sense. University places and the surrounding area are the ideal environments where this connection can be explored and narrated through photographs that, with sensitivity and a keen eye, can return the value of these moments, these spaces and these people. The proposed images, both in black and white and in color, will have the power to unveil a scientific world that, while everyday, never ceases to arouse wonder, stimulate curiosity and nourish our thinking.
The intent of the contest is to highlight a set of disciplines, objects and stories that run through our days, creating a continuous web of relationships between the area and the scientific universe that animates it.
Careful reading of the attached Call for Entries is recommended.
Participation in the competition is free.
Each author may enter for only one category.
The categories are:
- Places of Research. Photographs of places where science comes to life: laboratories, libraries, observatories, classrooms full of ideas, but also outdoor environments where science becomes tangible.
- Nature and Science in Everyday Life. Photographs showing how science is present in everyday life, from small natural wonders to technological objects.
- Us and Science. Photographs exploring the relationship between humans and the sciences, showing how we approach knowledge or interact with technologies.
Allowed are:
- unpublished photos and therefore never published or made available to the public in any way;
- photos in digital format with the following requirements: minimum size of 2,500 pixels on the largest side; maximum 10Mb; JPEG format;
- photos that do NOT contain the author's signature, watermarks, frames or identification in the metadata;
- photos taken after March 1, 2024.
NO photographs or parts thereof made with computer graphics programs and models will be allowed. NO images produced with generative AI will be allowed.
Only the first 300 entries received from 00:00 a.m. March 17, 2025 to 11:59 p.m. April 17, 2025 will be accepted.
To participate, you must complete the online form (active as of March 17, 2025).
Persons from outside the University who do NOT have an @unimib.it (or @campus.unimib.it) account, must first apply for a temporary guest account valid for 10 days by filling out this form.
In compliance with the Law on Copyright (L.633/1941), each author, through participation in the contest, guarantees that he/she is the sole Author of all the works and their components submitted and therefore the owner of all rights pertaining to them, including property and copyrights.
It is not permitted to use and process photographs of other authors and such an occurrence will be considered as misappropriation and therefore punishable as “plagiarism.”
Each author/participant is personally responsible criminally and civilly for the photographs submitted to the competition, holding the University harmless from any liability even to any subjects depicted.
Each Author warrants that he/she has obtained the appropriate releases from the persons who may be portrayed in the photographs submitted, this is because the photographer's right to exhibit, reproduce or assign to third parties a portrait of a person, depends on the consent of that person (Art. 96 Law April 22, 1941 no. 633), therefore, the Author, where the photographs include persons other than the Author who are easily recognizable and/or identifiable, must declare that he/she has a signed release from the subject(s) photographed, holding the University harmless from any possible recourse and/or claim by them for unauthorized use of his/her image. Therefore, the participant will need to inform any interested parties (such as the persons portrayed) in the cases and ways provided for by the Law to protect Privacy, explicitly confirming adherence to the provisions of the GDPR Regulation No. 679/2016 and what follows from it, and in particular from what is contained in Articles 13 to 22, and Article 34, as well as provide information inherent to the data processing where provided, under penalty of exclusion from the contest.
Through participation in the contest, the author authorizes the University to use the photographs in the contest for purposes related to the event and its conduct. Participation in the contest therefore automatically entails the author granting the University the right to reproduce the photographs in all ways permitted by modern technology, for purposes related to the photo contest.
Uses other than these will be requested in advance from the author of the images.
By entering the competition, the author unconditionally accepts all the provisions of the announcement.
For anything not made explicit, reference is made to Law No. 633 of April 22, 1941 (G.U., 16.07.1941 No. 16 as amended), which regulates “The protection of copyright and other rights related to its exercise.”
The Evaluating Commission, identified from among the various components of the academic community and experts in the field, is appointed by the Rector, in accordance with the relevant provisions in force.
The Commission will determine, at its sole discretion, a ranking in consideration of relevance to the theme of the Contest, originality of content, aesthetic-artistic quality and technical quality; it will also select the best photos in each category, which will be exhibited in an exhibition dedicated to the photo contest.
The Commission will determine the winner for each category, who will be awarded at the University.
The selected photos and winners of the Contest will be made public on the website and communicated via e-mail to all participants.
The Judging Committee will award a prize consisting of a Gift Card for stores and online stores in the amount of €500.00 to the first place winner in each category.
The photographs exhibited will compete for the “Meeting the Public” Prize, awarded following a vote by all visitors to the exhibition:
First prize: € 300.00
Second prize: € 200.00
Third prize: € 100.00
In addition, the Commission reserves the right to award one or more special prizes.
Prizes must be collected personally. All participants will be given ample notice of the date and place where the awards ceremony will be held.