| Wiki Science Competition | |
|---|---|
Official logo of Wiki Science Competition
| |
| Genre | Scientific photography, Nature photography, Scientific illustration |
| Begins | 1-15 November [1] |
| Ends | 1-15 December [2] |
| Location(s) | Worldwide |
| Years active | 6 |
| Inaugurated | 2017 |
| Most recent | 2023 |
| Participants | Photographers, researchers, students |
| Organised by | Wikipedia community members |
| Website | wikisciencecompetition.org |
The Wiki Science Competition (WSC) is a global science photography competition for students, researchers, and others to contribute freely licensed high-quality, well-sourced images and other media to Wikimedia Commons.[3][4]
It evolved from the Estonian Science Photo Competition. The first global competition took place in 2017[5] and is held every two years,[6] occurring for most countries around November or December.[7][8] It has been called one of the most important photo competitions in the world.[9] The main organizer of the competition is Ivo Kruusamägi.
The first competition saw participation from over 2,200 contestants, with the number of images exceeding 10,000.[4][6] In 2017, there were five categories: People in Science, Microscopy images, Non-photographic media, Image sets, and a General category. In 2019, a new category, Nature, was added; in 2021, Astronomy was added.[10] A special prize for "Women in STEM" is also offered.[5]
Media are evaluated based on the detail of their description, with sources from high-impact journals, datasets, and other reliable third-parties being prioritized. This incentivizes expert-driven contributions backed by verifiable materials.
Among the countries were it has been launched and regularly held there are Estonia, Switzerland, Ireland, United States, Poland,[11] Ukraine, and Russia (where it is held in Spring).[12]
