Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

2025 Science Image Challenge winners announced

3/6/2026

Winners of the annual School of Chemical Sciences (SCS) Science Image Challenge have been announced, highlighting educational and inspirational research images.  

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The annual School of Chemical Sciences (SCS) Science Image Challenge is held for researchers to engage the public with images that are educational and inspirational. This competition is open to undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral associates/fellows, and staff.   

All SCS students, faculty and staff are welcome to attend the award ceremony:
Monday, March 16 at 3:30 pm
Chemistry Library 

See this year's winners below. To learn more about the SCS Science Image challenge and to see winners from previous years, visit the SCS SIC webpage.

Winner: Main Category

Sanghyun Jeon, Diao Lab
Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

microscopic image of polymers resembling waves approaching a shoreline
Microscale Wonders: Hidden Emerald Shores Printed conjugated polymers can assemble into fiber-like aggregates. By controlling the printing conditions and flow dynamics, we observed wave-like features reminiscent of shorelines. The image was taken under linear polarized microscopy, and each domain exhibits different brightness and color depending on its alignment. Image: Sanghyun Jeon, Diao Lab

Winner: Cover Art Category

Xiao Huan, Diao Lab
Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

magazine cover showing an illustration of a green and orange chameleon
Recent progress in printable structural color: An illustration representing printable structural colors. Inspired by the chameleon’s natural coloration, the image shows how additive manufacturing can recreate nature’s color through nanoscale structural design rather than pigments. Image: Xiao Huan, Diao Lab

Finalists

Finalist: Deborah Schmitt, Su Lab
Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

micrograph of electrons resembling planets
The Kiss of the Planets: This scanning electron micrograph captures porous polymer-functionalized particles whose surfaces are uniformly functionalized with poly(methyl methacrylate) chains. The polymers extend between nearby particles after contact, forming bridges that reflect their prior proximity: the soft matter equivalent of a “planetary kiss” between neighboring particles. Image: Deborah Schmitt, Su Lab

Finalist: Yupeng Li, Tajkhorshid Lab
Center for Biophysics & Quantitative Biology, Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Beckman Institute 

image of lipids moving through a barrier of blue columns
Lipid on the Move: Gram-negative bacterial outer membrane (OM) forms an impermeable protective barrier. Depicted is the LetAB-mediated transport of a key OM building block, phospholipid, from inner membrane towards OM. The lipid (yellow) is extracted and elevated by LetA (cyan), then positioned for entry into LetB (blue) to shuttle across the periplasm. Image: Yupeng Li, Tajkhorshid Lab

Finalist: Jusung An, Mirica Lab
Department of Chemistry

image of brain plaque resembling a starry sky
Constellation of a Diseased Brain: This multicolor brain section displays amyloid-rich plaques scattered across neuropil. Like star clusters in a night sky, staining these deposits with small-molecule fluorophores reveals their distinct patterns and progression, transforming an otherwise uniform tissue slice into a spatial map of Alzheimer’s disease pathology. Image: Jusung An, Mirica Lab

Finalist: Priyotosh Bairagya, Diao Lab
Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

microscopic image of a green and yellow polymer
Chiral Fingerprint: Cross Polarized Optical Microscopy image of a Cholesteric nematic (N*) liquid crystal phase of C-PFBT conjugated polymer. The colorful spiral texture occurs when the polymer self-assembling into a chiral helical arrangement manifesting in a periodic change in birefringence. Image acquisition: Nikon Eclipse Ci-Pol Microscope with 50x transmission objective. Image: Priyotosh Bairagya, Diao Lab

Finalist: Noam Gamburg, Jun Lab
Department of Chemistry

stylized pink and gray image of a nanoscale carrier
Encapsulated Potential: Inspired by viral systems that transport nucleic acids within membrane envelopes, a stylized nanoscale carrier is designed to encapsulate therapeutic protein drug cargo within lipid nanoparticles. Its architecture illustrates how biological design principles can be adapted for controlled intracellular transport. Image: Noam Gamburg, Jun Lab

Finalist: Xiao Huan, Diao Lab
Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

blue branches forming tree-like shapes against a dark background
Growing in silence: As toluene evaporated between two glass slides, bottlebrush block copolymers began to branch and rise, like a tree taking shape from air. Their silent self-assembly scattered light into color, as if growth itself had taken root in the molecular world. Image: Xiao Huan, Diao Lab

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This story was published March 6, 2026.