Eligibility

The photo contest is open to all enrolled students (Undergraduate, Postgraduate, Master and PhD students) and staff members (academic and non-academic) at all partner Universities of EU-CONEXUS. The contest is open for online submissions only, through this contest page.

There is no entry fee to the contest.

Each participant can submit one photograph only. Participation is strictly personal, and the entrant cannot enter the contest on behalf of another person.

The use of AI or modified images are not allowed.

Pictures that contain: nudity, hate, discrimination, racism, violence, alcohol, drugs, political opinion, defamatory, offensive, pornographic, insulting, unlawful or contrary to good morals, will not be eligible to participate in the contest and be disqualified from participating.

EU-CONEXUS reserves the right to disqualify any entry and/or be stripped of any prize(s), and/or banned from entering future contests if it is deemed inappropriate or does not conform to stated standards.

Photo guidelines

• All participants must be able to provide a high-resolution image that, if selected, can be printed on different media for exhibitions. The photo should be in high resolution (at least 2480 x 3720 and minimum 300 dpi).
• Photo formats accepted are .jpg or .png.
• Orientation can be either portrait or landscape.
• Only minor modifications to the photographs will be accepted including cropping, brightness, contrast and minor colour correction. Any extensive editing is not permitted.
• The following will not be accepted:
  • blurry, low resolution and unclear photos.
  • photos with watermarks, dates, stamps, or any other information that is not part of the original photo.
  • photos stretched horizontally or vertically.
• The photo file submitted must be named with the photographer’s name and surname, followed by the photo title (for example Name_Surname_Title.jpg).
• Optional: Along with their photograph, participants can submit a short text (maximum 500 words) detailing the message they are trying to convey in their picture. However, the selection will only be on the photograph itself and not on the text.
• Participants who do not meet the eligibility criteria will be removed from the contest.
• The content of the photographs must be in accordance with the University’s code of conduct.
• Originality: submissions must be original work. Plagiarism is not allowed.
• The use of AI or modified images is not allowed.
• The photographs submitted cannot be taken by a drone.
• Participants to the photo contest must have the permission to take photos of individuals, and their permission to enter the photo into the contest (see Image Authorisation and Consent section).

Image authorisation and consent

In accordance with data protection regulations, the treatment of images should be carried out with respect for the person. If faces or images from third people appears on the photo that could reveal their identities, the participant has the responsibility to have the image authorisation and consent, before uploading the photo to our contest website.

The consent could be granted by the Image Authorisation we facilitate (Annex 1) or by written proof that can be authenticated by the identity concerned, e-mail and/or paper signed with ID card.

By uploading the pictures on the website and accepting the GDPR box, the participant accepts the responsibility to have all the consents gathered.

Evaluation and voting

The photographs submitted will be evaluated based on the following process:

The first step is an internal selection at national level of the 9 EU-CONEXUS partners.

Each of the nine universities will gather a local jury who will evaluate the photographs submitted and select the best three pictures according to:

• the photo guidelines mentioned above;
• the evaluation criteria mentioned below, each of them being rated from 1 to 5 points;
  
  • Creativity
  • Quality
  • Relevance with the topic

The second process is an open-to-all voting via EU-CONEXUS website, which will determine the top three winners at EU-CONEXUS level.

The photographs selected at national level (3 photographs per country therefore a maximum of 27 of them) will proceed with an open-to-all voting.

The photographs will be displayed anonymously.

Only one vote per person is allowed through EU-CONEXUS website during a two-week period.

The voter should fill in their contact info in order to avoid fake votes.

At the end of the voting period, the three photos that receive the most votes will be the winning photos.

Announcement of the photo contest result

The results of the contest will be announced by e-mail to the winners at the email address provided during entry. The results will be made official on the EU-CONEXUS webpage and social media.

Prizes

The top three winners will be awarded a 250 euros prize each.

All decisions are final.

The prizes may not be received in any other form than those provided in these rules.

The prizes awarded by EU-CONEXUS may not be contested, exchanged for another prize, replaced, transferred or reimbursed in whole or in part.

It is hereby specified that EU-CONEXUS declines all responsibility for any incidents and/or damages of any kind that may arise from the enjoyment of the prize awarded and/or from their use. It is recalled that EU-CONEXUS will not provide any guarantee or assistance services, as the prizes consist solely of the delivery of the prize as described above.

Timeline

IMPORTANT: EU-CONEXUS reserves the right to modify the contest prize and its rules and regulations as and when necessary, without prior notice.

Intellectual property rights

Each participant in the photo contest certifies that they are the sole copyright-holder of the submitted photographs and they are original to them. The participant has full power to authorize the use of the photographs.

Each participant in the photo contest certifies that all submitted photographs do not violate or infringe on any existing copyright or any other third-party rights and contain nothing otherwise unlawful.

The participant grants for free to the organizers the worldwide non-exclusive right for the whole term of copyright, to use, edit, alter, copy, exhibit, reproduce, adapt, publish or distribute and redistribute the photographs in full or part for purposes of promoting EU-CONEXUS or for any other lawful purpose and communicate to the public, worldwide, in any language in printed and electronic format, the whole or any part of the submitted photos.

The participant understands and agrees that the submitted materials will become the property of EU-CONEXUS and will not be returned. In addition, the participant waives the right to inspect or approve any finished products, whether in written or electronic form. The participant waives any right to royalties, payment or other consideration arising from or related to the use of the photo(s).

Data protection (GDPR)

The information provided by the participants may be used for data processing, excluding commercial or political use.

The students benefit from the right to access, rectify, and remove data about themselves by making a formal request to the Organizer of the photo contest. Participants may request to be omitted or removed from the contest before the closing date of the submission.

Liability

No visual elements of another party (affecting privacy or image rights) may appear in the images. If the photographs show people, participants must obtain permission from them.

Photographs must not contain elements that are defamatory, offensive, pornographic, racist, insulting, unlawful or contrary to good morals.

You hereby hold harmless, release, indemnify and discharge EU-CONEXUS and its partners, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, agents and their employees, officers and representatives from all liability, claims, judgments, demands, controversies, agreements, damages, actions and causes of action whatsoever, arising out of or related in any way to the contest or the conduct of the contest and the acceptance and use, misuse, or possession of any prize awarded, whether in law or in equity, no matter what the cause or nature, and you further waive any claims that you may state or assert against EU-CONEXUS in association with the competition or any of its associated activities, or in any way related to or resulting from the contest even if such injury or claims results from or is caused by the negligence or gross negligence of EU-CONEXUS, in whole or in part, due to human error or otherwise. You further agree to indemnify and hold harmless EU-CONEXUS from any claim arising out of your participation in the contest including, without limitation, all claims brought or asserted by any third party as a result of any injury or loss that You or they may sustain in any way associated with your participation in the contest.

Under no circumstance will EU-CONEXUS be liable for any:

• lost, late, misdirected, stolen, illegible or incomplete Submissions
• error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, submitted Photo
• problems, failures or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers, providers, computer equipment, software, email, players, or browsers, on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet, at any website, or on account of any combination of the foregoing
• incorrect or inaccurate information, caused by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest or by any technical or human error which may occur in the processing of the Photos and/or the Submissions
• injury or damage to any Participant or to any computer related to, resulting from or in connection with the Contest.

If, for any reason, the contest is not capable of being conducted as anticipated, due to computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of EU-CONEXUS, which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the contest, EU-CONEXUS reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the contest as deemed appropriate, disqualify any Participant, and/or select winners from all eligible Photos submitted prior to the termination, cancellation, modification or suspension. EU-CONEXUS reserves the right to correct any typo-graphical, printing, computer programming or operating errors at any time.

Registration

Name / Surname *

First

Last

Email address *

University name *

Are you a student or staff member? *

• Student
• Staff

Upload photo *

Drag & Drop Files, Choose Files to Upload

Your photo should be in high resolution (at least 2480 x 3720 and minimum 300 dpi). All participants must be able to provide a high-resolution image. The files must be named with the photographer’s name and surname followed by the photo title (for example Name_Surname_Title.jpg).

GDPR Agreement *

• Having Been Informed of the Privacy Policy of EU-CONEXUS – European University for Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability, who is the Data Controller, I grant EU-CONEXUS the right to process the Data I provided it with the present, in accordance with the GDPR for participating in the Photo Contest and keep me informed about news and updates.

Submit your photo