Photo contest: Diversity of Life
From molecular structures to complex ecosystems, drug development and nutritional processes
Research at our faculty is one thing above all else: diverse!
To showcase this diversity, we were looking for extraordinary and exciting snapshots from the world of biology, pharmaceutical and nutritional sciences. Our research does not always take place in laboratories, which is why this year, for the first time, a special prize was awarded for the best field research photo.
From 2 March to 15 April 2026, all students and staff of the Faculty of Life Sciences were cordially invited to submit their best photos. In addition to the three main prizes a special prize for the best depiction of field research and a public choice award were awarded.
Check out the winners below!
Results
The submissions to the "Photo Contest: Diversity of Life" were fantastic. Selecting the winners was no easy task for the jury, which included professors, students, and staff from across the faculty, together with a professional photographer. Alongside a public vote, the final results are as follows:
First place goes to Georg Brenneis for his picture "When Water, Wind and Sun Align". This image also captured the public's interest, earning him the Public Choice Award as well. Second place was awarded to Theres Koch for "Reef Pigments" and third place to Paula Seegar for "Alien on Earth". The special prize for field research went to Alper Yelimlieş for his picture "Parent-Offspring Conflict". Places 5 through 10 were not ranked by the jury.
We congratulate all winners and thank every participant for their outstanding submissions!
The winners and Top 10 are...
1. Place and Public Choice Award: When water, wind and sun align
© Georg Brenneis
Due to favorable wind and water conditions, rays of the low-standing midnight sun create bright reflective circles on the gently undulating surface of the Barents Sea. At the very moment of such a reflection event, a Northern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) and its watery mirror image glide through the frame. The image was taken in late summer onboard the research vessel Helmer Hanssen, after a long day of collecting marine invertebrates for our zoological studies at University of Vienna.
2. Place: Reef Pigments
© Theres Koch
At first glance, this encrusting coral (order Scleractinia) of the species Echinophyllia feels less like a photograph and more like a painting, or even a microscopic landscape. Captured during a reef inventory at two reef sites in El Qoseir, Mangrove Bay (Red Sea, Egypt) in October 2023, it shows deep greens and blues across its surface, interrupted only by red polyp mouths that draw the viewer’s eye into its textured, almost surreal patterns.
3. Place: Alien on Earth
© Paula Seegar
Taken at night a night excursion at the Biological Station La Selva (Costa Rica), this image shows the Fulgorid Planthopper Enchophora sanguinea. For me it is fitting for a Biodiversity as a motto since all people I have showed this picture asked; „what is this?“ Which is a central question when starting to talk about Biodiversity. This species is feeding on phloem sap and to excrete the excess sugars and water it expels them as nutrient-rich honeydew, which attracts other organisms that can intercept the droplets mid-air. This process is considered as a rare form of trophobiosis.
Field Research Prize: Parent-offspring conflict
© Alper Yelimlieş
Galapagos yellow warblers raise multiple broods during the breeding season. Females would often start incubating a new clutch while fledglings from previous broods are not fully independent. This may cause a conflict of interest between the fledgling and the mother.
Top 5-10: red liquorice
© Patrik Spann
This picture was taken during a university course on marine habitats in the North Sea. The first breeding pair of Northern gannets arrived to the German island of Helgoland in 1991. In the waters surrounding the island the birds hunt for fish and gather materials such as algae to build their nests. Unfortunately, they also collect plastic waste and discarded fishing gear, to encorporate into their nesting structures. In this case it almost looks like the couple is sharing a string of red liquorice.
Top 5-10: Create a lot of buzz
© Julian Gericke
A Xylocopa caerulea on its daily routine to collect pollen near Mount Kinabalu in Borneo. The little yellow crown visible right behind its head is a pollinium from an orchid that it visited earlier that day. In the captured moment, it is visiting a Melastoma Malabatricum. Here it will start vibrating the poricidal stamen, causing the pollen to fly out of pores at the tip of the anthers. This process, called buzz pollination, is seen in 96% of Melastomataceae.
Top 5-10: Origin of the Neuronal Complexity
© Abhishek Mishra
The decentralized nerve net of the starlet sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, highlighting neuronal diversity with a subset of endodermal neurons glowing in red and a distinct population of neurons and cnidocytes shines in green.
Top 5-10: Orchid pollinaria - Hidden complexity of plant reproduction
© Silvia Ulrich
Four artificially colored orchid pollinaria, imaged using scanning electron microscopy after critical point drying, unveil the hidden complexity of plant reproduction. Each pollinium represents a compact, highly specialized pollen package, shaped by evolution for precise attachment to pollinators. Their diverse shapes reflect unique strategies for successful transfer, showcasing the remarkable creativity behind orchid reproduction.
Top 5-10: Eyecontact
© Johannes Ploderer
During my PhD at the Konrad Lorenz Research Center I am investigating individual behavioural differences in the Galápagos short-eared owl (Asio flammeus galapagoensis). As part of our project we capture the owls to take a set of samples, ring them and equip them with a GPS logger, which allows us to study their movement ecology. This specific owl has already been caught by us a few weeks prior and is wearing rings and carrying a GPS device on its back.
Top 5-10: "Ménage-à-trois"
© Andreas Chovanec
During dragonfly reproduction, the pair flies in tandem before forming the copula. This can often be observed in nature. Rarely, however, triple tandems like this one can be seen: an obviously sexually overmotivated male of Ischnura pumilio (the foremost) has seized a male of Erythromma viridulum, which is already holding a female. The "triple-tandem" even flew for several meters. The photo was taken in Maria Enzersdorf (Lower Austria).