SSPP Photo Contest: Research In Action

The Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy Photography Competition: Research in Action celebrates the creativity and impact of research spanning the diverse landscape of social science disciplines and the many fields that shape our understanding of society. We invite staff and postgraduate research (PGR) students from within SSPP to submit photographs that bring research to life, moving beyond the written word to capture moments of discovery, collaboration, and application. Whether it's fieldwork in progress, innovative methods, or evidence of research making a tangible difference, your image should tell the story of ideas in motion and knowledge in action.

Winning and runner up entries will be displayed in our 'Research in Action' Photography Exhibition in The Exchange, Bush House from 26 March. Winners will also receive a cash prize.

Rules

• The competition is open to SSPP staff and postgraduate research (PGR) students.
• The photograph must have been taken by the entrant.
• Photographs must not have been taken more than five years prior to the competition opening date of 12 January 2026.
• Entrants can submit up to three photographs to the competition.
• Entries must be submitted in JPEG or PNG format.
• Images should be a minimum of 1MB and no larger than 5MB in size with no watermarks, signatures or borders included.
• Each entry should include a title and an accessible description of up to 150 words explaining the context and significance of the image.

We are aware that digital photography does allow for some image enhancement. You can enter an image that has had spots, scratches or other blemishes removed. You can have worked on the colour or enhanced the image for the sake of composition. You can also crop the image to improve composition. However, we will not accept composite images - entries that stitch two or more separate photographs together to make one image or entries that superimpose elements photographed separately into an image.

Gaining consent: If the clear focus of the photograph is of a person or small group, permission must be granted by the individuals concerned before you submit your entry. We will provide a form for this when the competition goes live.

How do I enter?

Submissions will be via our online entry form which will go live on this page from Monday 12 January and will be open for entries until the deadline of Monday 23 February at 18.00.

How will the photos be judged?

All entries will be judged by a panel including Executive Dean, Professor Linda McKie, on the following criteria:

• Works to the theme (Research in Action)
• Composition
• Originality

What happens with the winning entries?

Prizes will be awarded in the form of vouchers for First (£250), Second (£100) and Third places (£50) and the winning and runners up entries showcased in our 'Research in Action' Photography Exhibition held in The Exchange, Bush House from 26 March, which will be open to all King's staff and students across the Spring holiday period.

Entrants will retain copyright in the photographs. By entering the competition you grant King's the right to publish and exhibit the photographs in print, social media and on the kcl.ac.uk website and internal.kcl.ac.uk intranet in perpetuity.

Any questions about the competition please email [email protected]

We look forward to your entries!