Professional Development

Images Of Research (IoR)

The Images of Research (IoR) competition is a unique opportunity for Graduate Students at the University of Lethbridge to display their research, scholarly and artistic work. The aim of the competition is to provide graduate students with an artistic alternative to highlight their work, as a way to celebrate the diverse research at the University of Lethbridge.

A critical piece of the graduate student journey is working towards gaining experience and building skills to support your transition to the next step in your career development journey. Graduate students should participate to build skills to support professional development, share their research in a meaningful way, earn money by winning prizes, and meet and support other graduate researchers and have fun.

Looking for a fun way to share your research and earn cash prizes? Want to connect with other Graduate Students across the institution? We have a great opportunity for you to complete and submit a creative image of your research along with a 150-word description.

Competition to be presented in conjunction with the 3-Minute Thesis Final on Thursday, March 12, 2026, including the announcement of the top 3 and people's choice awards. 

The multidisciplinary panel of judges will use the following guidelines to assess submissions. Note the importance of both the image and the abstract.

  1. Aesthetic appeal and creativity of the image 

    1. Quality 

    2. Composition 

    3. Impact/attractiveness 

    4. Creativity 

  2. Research connection 

    1. Do the image and abstract work together to adequately explain how the research is relevant to the public and academia, about why it matters? Are they cohesive? 

    2. Do the image and abstract make you want to know more about the research? 

  3. Clarity of the abstract 

    1. Does the abstract contain clear, non-technical plain English? 

    2. Is the abstract free from grammatical/spelling errors?

    3. Do the abstract and title work together to adequately describe the image content?

    4. Is there an adequate description of the relevance of the research (to the community)?

Prizes: 

  • First Place: $500 

  • Second Place: $250 

  • Third Place: $100 

  • People's Choice: $100 

Eligibility: 

Graduate students in good standing in a thesis-based/project-based program that satisfies research criterion for Tri-Council funding (SSHRC, NSERC, and CIHR)