From a biodegradable coral sculpture, to a graphic novel on the fate of the earth and a video transforming human gaze into a visual landscape, the winners of the inaugural ARC Centres of Excellence Creative Communication Competition have been announced.
Held as part of National Science Week 15–23 August 2026, the competition celebrated leading researchers and research teams who are not only advancing ground-breaking research, but also finding creative new ways to engage with communities and communicate the impact of their work.
The competition highlighted the many ways researchers can share their research, showing that impactful research communication can take many forms, from visual storytelling and artistic interpretation to short-form video and creative narratives.
“The competition has showcased the talent, imagination and passion across ARC Centres of Excellence, and the many ways art, storytelling, humour and visual media can help make research more accessible, engaging and relevant to the community”, said Bonnie Johnson, Director of Communications and Engagement at the Australian Research Council.
Researchers and Centre members from nine participating ARC Centres of Excellence were invited to communicate their own research, or the work of their lab or Centre, through six creative categories: photography/microscopy, digital artwork, drawing/painting/sculpture, memes, one-minute videos, and graphic novels/comics/zines.
“These entries show that research communication can be so much more than journal articles, reports and presentations. Creativity gives researchers another way to connect with people and bring ideas to life.”
The response was strong, with more than 2,270 people viewing the entries and casting their votes for the People’s Choice Award.
Entries were assessed by a panel of expert judges:
- Bonnie Johnson, Director, Communications and Engagement at the Australian Research Council
- Associate Professor Jen Martin, Leader of the Science Communication Teaching Program and Academic Lead for Graduate Research at the University of Melbourne
- Alicia Sometimes, Australian writer, poet and broadcaster
Judges considered creativity, originality, clarity of research communication and visual impact.
Congratulations to the winners
Photography / Microscopy
First Prize: Stomata: The Breathing Pores of Life, Plant Success
Second Prize: The Great Escape, CIPPS
People’s Choice Award: Listening to my mungbean plants, Plant Success
Digital Artwork
First Prize: Where the Human Eye Reaches Its Limit, Simulations Unveil the Unseen Molecular World, GETCO2
Second Prize: Anatomy of an Online Crowd, ADM+S
People’s Choice Award: Mustache for a Cleaner Future, GETCO2
Drawing / Painting / Sculpture
First Prize: The Reef Remembers, Synthetic Biology
Second Prize: Coalescence, Oz Grav
People’s Choice Award: Elli the E. coli, Synthetic Biology
Meme
First Prize: The Binary Black Hole Chonk Chart, Oz Grav
Second Prize: Genomic prediction, Plant Success
People’s Choice Award: PhD Student Life, Plant Success
1-minute Video
First Prize: Gaze Trails, ADM+S
Second Prize: Peptide, CIPPS
People’s Choice Award: An empirical experiment, Plant Success
Graphic Novel / Comic / Zine
First Prize: The Fate of the Earth, Oz Grav
Second Prize: Radioactivity in Sydney, Dark Matter
People’s Choice Award: From Waste to Wonders, Synthetic Biology
The ARC Creative Communication Competition was a collaboration between the following ARC Centre’s of Excellence: Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S), 21st Century Weather, Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, OzGrav, Plants for Space, Dark Matter, Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture, Synthetic Biology, and GETCO2.
We thank the participants from across the ARC Centre’s Excellence for sharing their research and creativity. We also thank our judges and community members who helped make the inaugural competition a success and celebrated the many creative ways research can be shared.
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