Biofilm Create! Competition 2025: Winners Announced
We’re pleased to announce the winners of our 2025 Biofilm Create! Competition.
We launched our first competition in 2021 as part of our #BiofilmAware campaign, which works to raise awareness of NBIC and its research, and the many societal and economic impacts of biofilms. We are pleased to announce the winners below.
The competition had two categories: photography and art, and was a great opportunity for members of the public, budding artists and photographers to explore biofilms in their everyday environments and is also a chance for scientists to look at creative ways of showcasing their cutting-edge research.
Thank you very much for everyone who took part. The quality of the entries in both categories were outstanding. Amazon gift cards were awarded to first (£200), second (£100) and third place (£50) in both categories.
You can view all of the entries we received in our Biofilm Image Gallery and Biofilm Art Gallery.
Art Category Winners
1st Place: Sanika Pradhan from ASCUS Art and Science Lab, Edinburgh.
‘Silent Communication’
Biofilms are self-organised architectures born from collaboration and adaptation. This version focuses on structure as narrative, how living materials build and reshape their environment. The piece becomes a monochrome landscape of life, where every texture, the rough mycelium and the translucent kombucha cellulose, embodies microbial intelligence. This is a perfect example of silent communication. In this science-art piece, Silent Communication highlights that life’s greatest competition is for connection.
2nd Place: Emma Wright from Cardiff University.
‘Microbial Relationships’
These paintings are inspired by the artist’s research into the microbial relationships that exist within the biofilms of chronic wound infections. The left piece abstractly explores synergy within a biofilm, expressed through smooth, swirling forms and harmonious colour transitions. In contrast, the right piece embodies competition, conveyed through sharp edges and the heightened tension between colours. Together, they reflect the complex metabolic networks that govern cooperation and conflict among microorganisms – interactions that play a crucial role in the potentiation of non-healing in chronic wounds.
3rd Place: Lavanya Sharma from the University of Southampton.
‘Machine Liquidity’
Machine Liquidity is an exploration of how artificial systems can emulate the complexity and fluidity of organic phenomena. This eight-part video series investigates the essence of water—not by capturing it, but by reconstructing it through code. Built entirely in TouchDesigner, each video represents a different computational interpretation of flow, turbulence, reflection, and refraction, rendered through generative algorithms.
Judging Panel
Our diverse panel of 6 judges took part in an unbiased and anonymous judging process.
We sincerely thank the judging panel for their time and efforts in supporting our competition.
Chris Denning: Director of the University of Nottingham’s Biodiscovery Institute.
Paul Maguire: Freelance Photographer, with a background in Earth science and exploration.
Catriona Clark: Art student from the University of Edinburgh.
Joanna Verran: Emeritus Professor of Microbiology from Manchester Metropolitan University.
Neil Parry: R&D Programme Director, Biotechnology & Biosourcing, Unilever and Chair of the NBIC Non-Executive Board.
Jo Fothergill: Director of the University of Liverpoool’s Microbiome Innovation Centre and Trailfinder-CF Innovation Hub, Professor of Medical Microbiology.