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A record number of entries celebrate art and science through microscopy

WALTHAM, Mass., (March 31, 2021)—Olympus unveiled the winners of their second Global Image of the Year Life Science Light Microscopy Award, an annual competition that recognizes the best in life science imaging. The winning images were selected from a record number of entries—nearly 700 submissions from 61 countries.

Global Winner

Werner Zuschratter from Germany was selected as the global winner for his eye-catching image of a whole rat embryo captured with a confocal microscope. For the grand prize, Zuschratter will receive an Olympus SZX7 stereo microscope with a DP27 digital camera.

Regional Winners

Three regional prizes were awarded to XinPei Zhang (China) for Asia, Justin Zoll (USA) for the Americas and Grigorii Timin (Switzerland) for EMEA. Each regional winner will receive an Olympus CX23 upright microscope.

Honorable Mentions

Honorable mentions include Jan Martinek (Czech Republic), Laurent Formery (France), Matt Inman (Australia), Sayantan Datta (India), Derek Sung (USA), YiXun Su (China), MingShu Zhang (China), Nadia Efimova (USA) and Walter Ferrari (Argentina).

The contest launched on Sept. 15, 2020 with a call for users to submit their best life science microscopy images through Jan. 31, 2021. All entries were evaluated on artistic and visual aspects, scientific impact and microscope proficiency.

From rat embryos to butterfly scales and snakeskin, the Olympus Life Science team was impressed by the diverse collection captured under the microscope this year.

Satoshi Nakamura, Vice President of Scientific Solutions Global Marketing at Olympus Corporation, expressed enthusiasm about the bold, beautiful and often breathtaking images. “Not only did we see a record number of submissions, but the quality and creativity of those images were exceptional,” said Nakamura. “It’s amazing to see the unexpected art people capture with a microscope.”

About the Image of the Year (IOTY) Award

Olympus’ IOTY Award began in 2017 as the Image of the Year European Life Science Light Microscopy Award with the aim to celebrate both the artistic and scientific value of microscopy images. Today, the competition stays true to this mission by encouraging people across the world to look at scientific images in a new way, appreciate their beauty, and share images with others.

To learn more about the award-winning images and the microscope techniques used to capture them, visit Olympus-LifeScience.com/IOTY.

For more information about Olympus Life Science, visit Olympus-LifeScience.com.

Olympus 2020 IOTY Award winners: (Top, left) global winner Werner Zuschratter captured a whole rat embryo with a confocal microscope. Top, right Asia-Pacific regional winner XinPei Zhang imaged scales collected from different butterfly wings. (Bottom, left) Americas regional winner Justin Zoll captured a panoramic image of L-glutamine and beta-alanine crystals. (Bottom, right) EMEA regional winner Grigorii Timin imaged collagen fibers and dermal pigment cells of snakeskin.

About Olympus

Olympus is passionate about creating customer-driven solutions for the medical, life sciences and industrial equipment industries. For more than 100 years, Olympus has focused on making people’s lives healthier, safer and more fulfilling by helping to detect, prevent and treat disease; furthering scientific research; and ensuring public safety.

Olympus has manufactured microscopes since the company’s founding in 1919. Today, our Life Sciences business is dedicated to meeting and exceeding the evolving needs and expectations of life science professionals through a comprehensive range of clinical research, educational, and high-end research microscopes and microscope systems. For more information, visit Olympus-LifeScience.com.

Olympus and the Olympus logo are trademarks of Olympus Corporation or its subsidiaries.

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