Power of visuals in research

The competition encouraged QNRF-awarded research teams to use artistic images and visuals to highlight the outcomes of their research  to a wider audience. From a total of 50 submissions, 10 were shortlisted and three outstanding images awarded. 
The first prize went to an image of a novel species of fungi discovered during the analysis of sediment collected from Salwa beach in  Qatar. Through their project ‘Mapping the Microbial Diversity in the Arabian Gulf Surrounding Qatar using Genomics, Metagenomics and Culturing Approaches’, Dr Rashmi Fotedar, a lead principal investigator from the Ministry of Environment, and  her team demonstrated that Qatari marine sediments could harbour a variety of yet-to-be-discovered fungal species.   
The second prize was awarded to an image taken using a high-speed camera at 20,000 frames per second, and was entitled ‘Converting Liquid Fuel into Small Droplets During Spray Process to Enhance Engine Performance’. 
The picture, which showed the relevance of predictive models  for fuel spray research  in0  a real-life application, was captured by Dr Kannaiyan, a principal investigator in the project, led by Dr Reza Sadr from Texas A&M University at Qatar.
An image entitled ‘Fat Stem Cells Full of Red Fat Droplets’ submitted by Dr  Mohamed Elrayess and his team from the Anti-Doping Lab Qatar, took the third place. The research relates to fat deposition on the liver, kidney, heart and illustrates sensitivity to type-2 diabetes. 
The shortlisted images will be displayed during QF R&D’s Annual Research Conference (ARC’16), which opens tomorrow, and the winners recognised.