What is an Image of Risk?
Images of Risk is a competition where we invite you to submit an original image which you have created to communicate an interesting aspect of your work. The image may be a photograph or a drawing or diagram. Although we have called the competition Images of “Risk”, in this context we consider Risk to include safety, reliability, risk, resilience, maintenance and related terms that fall within the scope of ESREL 2016.
Why take part in the competition?
Images of Risk offers an exciting opportunity to communicate your work both within the ESREL 2016 community and more widely. This competition complements our scientific programme by providing an additional medium of communication. Images can be an extremely effective way of conveying information and leading us to think about our own work in new ways. Taking part in this competition will allow you to publicise your work to a wider audience. There will also be prizes for different categories of entry (e.g. PhD students, practitioners, academics). In addition, we shall run an Editor’s Choice competition for early submissions which wish to be considered for the cover of the ESREL 2016 conference book of extended abstracts.
Who can take part in the competition?
Anyone who is registers to participate in ESREL 2016 can take in this competition. If you are contributing a written paper and presentation, then you may wish to submit an image associated with your paper, or you could also submit an image on a completely different project if you wish. Equally, if you are planning to attend the conference then this is also an opportunity to present some of your work without having to write a paper or give a conventional presentation.
Which image should you choose?
Choose an image that depicts the end goal of your work and the impact it will have on the relevant aspects of your “universe”. This could be an image that captures, for example, a safe and healthy work place, a completed engineering project, an elegant mathematical solution, a user of your product design, a more knowledgeable community, the avoidance of failures, and so on. The image itself should inspire the viewer to want to find out more – is it something people can relate to? Will they know what they are looking at?
What do example images look like?
Images of Risk is a new event at ESREL 2016. However various institutions run such events and we are able to provide links to illustrative images from a related competition held by the University of Strathclyde. Some examples from a competition with a much broader scope than ESREL 2016 can be found here. Tips for preparing an image have been prepared by the Glasgow Science Centre and can be found here.
Where will your image be displayed?
The images will be displayed in the exhibition space during ESREL 2016, on multi-media during the conference in the Technology and Innovation Centre venue, and after the conference we would like to share images on our website. There is also an opportunity to enter your image into the Editor’s Choice competition if you want to be considered for selection to have your image on the cover on the book of ESREL 2016 extended abstracts.
What are the requirements for your image?
Your image should be in either jpeg or tiff format (tiff format is preferred). No other file formats will be accepted. The file should be a minimum of 300 dpi at A3 size. No explanatory text should be embedded on your image. Your image can be in colour or black and white. It can be landscape, portrait or square. Images should be ones that you have taken or created.
How to submit your entry?
You should complete a submission form which can be found here. This involves providing a title and short description of your image, completing a copyright consent form and ensuring that all images are your own or you have permission to use them.
Send your image entry, as well as the submission form, to the Strathclyde organising team at
When to submit your entry for the overall competition?
The deadline for submission of all entries is 31 August 2016. All entries will be eligible for the full competition. The creator must be registered for the conference, but need not be a contributing author.
When to submit your entry for the Editor’s Choice sub-competition?
If you wish to be considered for the Editor’s Choice, as well as the overall Images of Risk competition, then you must submit your entry by 20 June 2016. All entries for the Editor’s Choice will also be considered for the full Images of Risk Competition.
Are there special requirements for the Editor’s Choice competition?
Yes since the images have to meet the publisher requirements for cover designs. If your image is a photograph then it should have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi and preferably be submitted in .tiff or .eps format. If you are only able to send jpeg files then please make sure that these are saved in the highest quality and with minimal compression. If your image contains line art then these should be submitted in .tiff or .eps format and have a minimum resolution of 800 dpi. In addition, the minimum line width should be 0.5 pt and please avoid shadings and fill patterns.
How will your image be judged?
Those images submitted for the Editor’s Choice will be judged by the scientific programme team from the University of Strathclyde and the publisher. The Images of Risk Competition will be judged by a panel with representatives from sponsoring bodies such as the European Safety and Reliability Association and the UK Safety and Reliability Society.
When will results of the competition be announced?
The winners shall be announced during the ESREL 2016 conference.