Celebrate 10 Years of GerBI with Us and NFDI4BIOIMAGE

To mark the 10th anniversary of GerBI, our colleagues from NFDI4BIOIMAGE have honored us by dedicating their 2027 wall calendar to our community. Now we invite you to help make this milestone special: submit an image that captures your GerBI story and compete for a place in a calendar that will reach thousands of researchers worldwide. Explore the last three editions of the NFDI4BIOIMAGE wall calender.

The Challenge

We are looking for images that tell a GerBI story – images that show how GerBI has shaped your research, your methods, your collaborations, and your scientific journey.

This could be:

  • A bioimaging result from a collaboration – perhaps you worked with another GerBI member, learned a new method from them, or were inspired by their work
  • Data or visualizations from a joint project – something that would not exist without GerBI bringing people together
  • An image of a method you learned at GerBI – whether from a workshop, a mentoring relationship, or a job shadowing experience
  • A photo from a GerBI event – a meaningful moment from a meeting, conference, or community gathering that shows what GerBI is about, a lab visit, a collaboration starting, a breakthrough conversation, or the human side of our community

The key is this: Tell us why this image is connected to GerBI. What GerBI experience, collaboration, or learning made this image possible?

What Do You Win?

If your image is selected, it will be featured in the 2027 calendar – reaching hundreds of offices, laboratories, and institutions across the entire NFDI4BIOIMAGE community.

That means:

  • Your GerBI story reaches a global audience across the NFDI4BIOIMAGE network
  • Recognition of collaboration and community showing how collaboration makes science better
  • A description alongside your image that explains your GerBI connection
  • Your contribution documented as part of 10 years of GerBI history

Your image will be present for months, in spaces where important science happens. It is a lasting testament to the power of collaboration and community.

Submission Deadline: 27 September 2026

How to submit

Technical Requirements

  • Final Format: JPG, PNG, or TIFF
  • Final Resolution: 300 ppi at 30 × 20.5 cm (or 3500 × 2500 pixels)
  • Preliminary File upload: Please submit a preview (e.g. screenshot) of your image. The high-resolution image will be requested later.

Not sure about your image specifications? See our FAQ below for guidance on checking and adjusting your image resolution.

  1. Your Image: A bioimaging result, data visualization, photograph, or other visual that is connected to your GerBI experience.
  2. Image Title and Description (100–300 words): Tell us your GerBI story:
  • Image title – a brief, catchy name for your image
  • What do we see in the image? (Describe it in a way that non-specialists can understand. If it is a bioimaging result or data visualization, explain briefly what the science is. If it is a photo from an event, describe the moment.)
  • How is this image connected to GerBI? (This is the key question! Was it created through a collaboration with another GerBI member? Did you learn a method at GerBI that made this image possible? Are you showing work from a job shadowing? Did a GerBI event inspire this research? What makes this image a GerBI story?)
  • Why is this image meaningful to you? (What does it represent about your GerBI experience? What did you learn? How has GerBI changed your research?)

This description will appear alongside your image in the calendar, so make it personal, engaging, and genuine.

  1. Your Contact Information: Name, Email address, Institute/Affiliation (optional but recommended)

Submission Process

Upload your image and description here:

Image Upload

Deadline: 27 September 2026

A few final thoughts

This contest is about celebrating GerBI, not as an institution, but as a community of researchers who support, learn from, and inspire one another.

Every image you submit is a moment in that story. It is a collaboration that worked. It is a method learned. It is a connection that changed your research. It is the human side of science.

We do not expect polished perfection, we want to share authenticity. We are looking for the real moments when GerBI made a difference in your work. Show us how your research changed because of a collaboration, a workshop, a conversation, or a connection made through GerBI.

So think about your GerBI journey. Find the image that represents it best. Tell us your story. Help us celebrate a decade of remarkable collaboration.

BONUS: Extended Use for 10 Years of GerBI Celebration

We receive many wonderful submissions. If your image is not selected for the calendar, you can allow us to use it in other anniversary materials e.g. on the GerBI website. Please indicate this in the upload form.

Questions? Please check our FAQ ↓

Frequently Asked Questions FAQ

Any image that has a genuine connection to your GerBI experience. Some examples: – A microscopy image or dataset you created in collaboration with another GerBI member – A visualization of data using a method you learned through GerBI – A photo from a job shadowing experience at a GerBI member’s lab – An image from a GerBI workshop, meeting, or community event – A research result that would not have happened without a connection or collaboration made through GerBI – A photo showing the collaborative spirit of GerBI (people working together, exchanging ideas, etc.) The connection should be genuine and explainable. We want to celebrate how GerBI brings people together and enables science.

Yes! A meaningful photo from a GerBI workshop, conference, job shadowing, or community gathering absolutely counts. Photos that show the collaborative spirit of our community – researchers exchanging ideas, working together, or celebrating – are very welcome. Just make sure you have permission to use the image and that it clearly shows what makes the moment special.

We specifically want images with a GerBI story, so we ask that you explain the connection. If the image is only tangentially related to GerBI, it may not be the best fit for this particular contest. However, if you have a genuine GerBI experience connected to it, please tell us – we would love to hear it!

Yes! Feel free to submit several images. However, we can only select about 12 images for the calendar (one for each month), so submit your very best GerBI stories.

Absolutely! A collage can be a wonderful way to tell a GerBI story – for example, combining images from different collaborations, showing how multiple GerBI members contributed to a project, or capturing different moments from a GerBI event. Make sure the collage meets the technical requirements and is visually cohesive.

By submitting, you grant GerBI and NFDI4BIOIMAGE permission to use it in the calendar and associated promotional materials and to publish your image under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This means:
Your image can be freely shared, reused, and adapted by others for any purpose (commercial and non-commercial), Users must give appropriate credit to you as the original creator and provide a link to the license.

Your image may also appear on the NFDI4BIOIMAGE website with full credit to you. If your image contains other people, please ensure you have their permission to submit it.

Yes! There is no exclusivity requirement. You can submit an image you have already published or plan to publish in other venues. The calendar is simply another platform for sharing your work and your GerBI story.

Technical Questions

If your original image is high-quality and significantly larger than 3500 × 2500 px, it can be resized. If it is smaller or low-quality, upscaling may not work well.

Options:

1. Export the image with a higher resolution
2. Ask the original creator for a higher-resolution version
3. Reach out to us – we may be able to advise further **Contact: office@gerbi-gmb.de**

Best: TIFF (uncompressed or LZW-compressed)
Good: PNG (lossless)
Acceptable: JPG (high quality, 90%+ compression)

Avoid highly compressed files, BMP, or unusual formats.

In the application phase please only upload a down-scaled image or a screenshot of your image. In case of winning a place in the calendar, we’ll contact you and arrange an upload for the full resolution image.

After submission

We will contact all selected contributors by beginning of October 2026. If your image is chosen, we will work with you to finalize any details, confirm your description, and discuss how your GerBI story will be presented in the calendar.

We will receive many wonderful submissions – selection is competitive but not personal. Every GerBI story matters, and we appreciate the effort you put into sharing your experience. We’ll contact you and think together about another opportunities to showcase your image, you can allow us the usage in another context in the upload form.

If your image is selected for the calendar, we will feature it on the NFDI4BIOIMAGE website along with your description, name and story. This is a great opportunity for visibility and can help showcase your GerBI experience and research to a broader audience.