1st Place: “Rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae) on a grain of rice” by Zhang You
The 2025 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition has unveiled its winners, revealing astonishing images of life at the microscopic level.
For over five decades, this contest has celebrated the intricate beauty of nature as seen through a light microscope. This year’s entries showcase vibrant colors and stunning structures—from butterfly wings to zebrafish neurons—captured by scientists, students, and passionate hobbyists. The Small World in Motion category added mesmerizing time-lapse videos of cells dividing and organisms moving, blending science with visual poetry. Altogether, these 20 winning entries remind us that even the tiniest corners of nature hold breathtaking wonders waiting to be discovered.
More: Nikon Small World, Instagram
2nd Place: “Colonial algae (Volvox) spheres in a drop of water” by Dr. Jan Rosenboom
3rd Place: “Pollen in a garden spider web” by John-Oliver Dum
4th Place: “Heart muscle cells with chromosomes condensed following cell division” by Dr. James Hayes
5th Place: “Spores (blue/purple structures) of a small tropical fern (Ceratopteris richardii)” by Dr. Igor Robert Siwanowicz
6th Place: “Rat liver cells” by Dr. Francisco Lázaro-Diéguez
7th Place: “iPSC-derived sensory neurons labelled to show tubulin and actin” by Stella Whittaker
8th Place: “Mallow pollen germinating on stigma while being parasitized by a filamentous fungus” by Dr. Igor Robert Siwanowicz
9th Place: “A fungus (Talaromyces purpureogenus) known for its red, diffused pigment” by Wim van Egmond
10th Place: “Heart muscle cells (iPSC-derived) showing condensed chromosomes in metaphase” by Dr. Dylan T. Burnette & Dr. James Hayes
11th Place: “Sunflower trichomes (hair-like plant outgrowths)” by Marek Miś
12th Place: “The actin cytoskeleton (cyan) and endoplasmic reticulum (red) of a mouse brain cancer cell” by Halli Lindamood & Dr. Eric Vitriol
13th Place: “Slime mold (Arcyria major) releasing spores” by Henri Koskinen
14th Place: “Quartz with biotic goethite filaments” by Manfred Heising
15th Place: “Geometer moth (Geometridae) laying eggs” by Zhang You
16th Place: “Spore sacs (sporangia) of a fern” by Rogelio Moreno
17th Place: “Water fleas (Daphnia) and algae” by Hong Guo
18th Place: “Fluorescently marked mouse colon” by Marius Mählen, Koen Oost, Prisca Liberali, Laurent Gelman
19th Place: “Parasitic fungus (Cordycipitaceae) on a fly (Calliphoridae)” by Eduardo Agustin Carrasco
20th Place: “Marine copepod” by Dr. Zachary Sanchez