SA Science Lens Rules 2017

SA Science Lens

COMPETITION RULES

1)            The competition is open to individuals residing in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique only.

2)            Employees of NRF/SAASTA and their families are not eligible to participate.

3)            Images must have been taken on or after 1 January 2015 (i.e. must not be older than this date).

4)            Only digital images will be accepted as entries; prints and slides will not be accepted.

5)            Limited digital manipulation of images will be acceptable, and information of digital manipulation must accompany each entry for technical assessment. Cropping highlights and colour enhancements are acceptable, but no elements of a photograph should be digitally added or removed.

6)            Images can be submitted online or by email. Images should be of high resolution in a .jpeg, .jpg,. gif,. png, .tif or .tiff format. Files submitted with an entry may not be smaller than 2MB and should not be larger than 10MB. Finalists will be required to submit a high-resolution file of a resolution of at least 300dpi.

7)            SAASTA reserves the right to disqualify incomplete entries and/or contestants who are unable to submit, upon request, a high-resolution photograph of at least 300 dpi at A5 size.

8)            All entries submitted by email must be accompanied by a signed entry form as proof that the entrant has read and will abide by the competition rules. Persons entering online via the electronic entry form must tick the relevant box to indicate the same.

9)            The Organiser does not accept any liability for lost, delayed or incomplete entries.

10)         The copyright of the entire image before and after manipulation must be held by the entrant or the entrant must have the written authority of the copyright owner to submit the photograph for the competition. It is the responsibility of the entrant to seek all permissions required for the image to win under the entrant’s name, and for the display and publication of the entry. The Organiser reserves the right to request evidence of such authorities or consents.

11)         Each image should be submitted with a separate entry form. Up to three images may be entered in each category.

12)         No image may be entered in more than one category. The judges reserve the right to re-categorise any entry.

13)         Any image that has won a prize in another major competition is not eligible. For the purpose of this rule a ‘major competition’ is defined as a photographic competition receiving more than 200 entries. If an image has won a prize in such a competition it will be disqualified. Previously published images are not eligible (except if published in an in-house journal or publication with a circulation of under 2 000).

14)         The panel of judges appointed by the Organiser will choose the winners. Their decision on all matters relating to the competition is final, and no correspondence will be entered into concerning the competition’s judging and organisation. Images are judged on quality, technique, visual impact, and their ability to communicate and engage. The description entered with each image form part of the judging of the entry.

15)         The judges reserve the right in their absolute discretion to: a) declare void any entry; b) declare the whole competition or a category or categories void should no entries meet the required standard; c) award prizes to those entrants who achieve a certain standard and, if the entries taken as a whole do not achieve the anticipated standard, either to substitute prizes on offer or declare that none of the entries are worthy of a prize.

16)         Winners will be notified in January 2018.

17)         All winning, commended and short-listed pictures will published on various platforms including SAASTA website and other selected publications, including mass media publications.

18)         The Organiser reserves the right to reproduce and exhibit and to license the reproduction and the exhibition of some or all, in whole or part, in all media (now known or hereafter created) of all entries without the permission of the entrant or copyright owner or payment for such use, but only in connection with the promotion of and publicity for this competition or for use in science communication activities of NRF/SAASTA. The moral right of the copyright owner will be acknowledged.

19)         Should the Organiser wish to reproduce and exhibit any prize-winning, commended or short-listed entries not in association with this competition and its objectives, then the Organiser will obtain permission from the owner of the copyright.

20)         All images are submitted at the photographer’s risk and the Organiser regrets that it cannot accept any liability for any loss of, or damage occurring due to any images entered in the competition (how so ever caused), nor for any other loss or damage resulting there from.