The University of Chicago has announced the winners of its 2026 “Science as Art” contest, which highlights images resulting from research from the UChicago community.
From mathematics to meteorites, the entries display the gorgeous landscape of scientific research going on every day at the University of Chicago.
The grand-prize winner is: “Yin and Yang: Harmony in Chaos” by Takumi Matsuzawa (PhD’23).
Matsuzawa studies the chaotic motions of swirling fluids, known as turbulence. This image captures the trajectories of particles in water as turbulence winds down in a specially designed tank. The color represents the speed of the particles.
“The image also shows that turbulence can persist for surprisingly long times,” Matsuzawa wrote. “When this image was taken, the particles were barely moving, yet long-exposure measurements still reveal the characteristic vortex structure of turbulence.”
The audience favorite, chosen by a March Madness-style bracket on UChicago’s Instagram, is “Cartography of the Mouse” by staff scientist Margarette Clevenger and Prof. Nicolas Chevrier.
This image maps gene expression patterns across the different organ systems in a mouse, using a gene sequencing platform developed by the Chevrier Lab.
Two entries also received honorable mentions:
"Turquoise" by Aqiil Gopee, graduate student in anthropology
Gopee wrote:
During the University of Chicago’s Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (ISAC) excavations in Sohar, Oman, this year, I unearthed this fragment of turquoise alkaline-glazed earthenware (TURQ.T)—likely Abbasid and probably produced in Iraq circa 9th century CE.
As I brushed the sand away, the relief with appliqué decoration and vivid turquoise glaze gradually appeared, revealing the contrast between the ceramic’s preserved surface and the sand in which it had remained buried for over a millennium.
In the early Islamic period, Sohar was a major port city vibrant with trade across the Indian Ocean, and intricately ornamented pottery such as this would have circulated through the terrestrial and maritime networks that connected Arabia, East Africa, South Asia, and China.
“Plasma Turbulence” by postdoctoral researcher Ludwig Boess
Boess studies turbulent plasmas—a state of superheated matter made up of charged particles. While running a simulation of such a plasma, Boess was struck by the shapes of the structures. The left side shows the number density of the electrons and protons in the plasma; the right side shows their electric current density.
Winners and entries will be displayed around campus in the coming year.
Many more stunning images were submitted this year. Check out more at the Flickr gallery.
Want to see more? Check out past contests here.