BioArtAttack (2D) 2026 (including the Nancy Rothwell Prize)
A children’s 2D art drawing and painting competition including a named prize (the Nancy Rothwell Prize) for a new specimen drawing category
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Terms
BioArtAttack (2D) 2026 competition including the Nancy Rothwell Prize 2026
Terms and Conditions
Individual entrants are responsible for ensuring that they have read and abided by the terms and conditions before submitting their entries. No allowances will be made for instances where this is not the case. Any entry found not to comply with the competition rules is liable to be disqualified.
Eligibility
1. The Organiser of the competition is the Royal Society of Biology, Postal Address: PO Box 33, 95 Mortimer Street, London, W1W 7GB, United Kingdom. The competition is open to anyone except those involved in its organisation, employees of the Royal Society of Biology and their immediate family, sponsors of the competition, judges and their immediate family.
2. The competition is free to enter and is open to Royal Society of Biology members and non-members from around the world. Entrants must not be professional artists. For the purposes of this competition, a professional artist will be considered to be someone who makes more than half their annual income from the sale of their drawings.
3. Entrants must be within the age range of the category at the time of the closing date (23 July 2026).
4. Entrants under 13 years of age must seek consent from a parent or guardian in order to take part in the competition. Details for the entrant's parent or guardian will be requested when they submit their drawing. The Royal Society of Biology will contact the parent or guardian to confirm details of consent are correct.
5. Prior to submission, entrants must not have offered any of their entries for sale, been paid for any publication of their entries, or won or been runner-up in any other drawing or art competition with any of their entries.
6. At the time of submission, entrants must declare to the Organiser whether they have entered their drawings in any other competition. Such submissions will be accepted for entry in to the RSB BioArtAttack (2D) competition and for the Nancy Rothwell Prize at the judges' discretion.
7. Individuals who have entered the RSB BioArtAttack (2D) in a previous year can enter again in 2026, however must declare in which year they had previously taken part and whether they had received an award. Previous winners of the RSB BioArtAttack (2D) cannot enter the competition again in the same age category.
8. The closing date for submissions is at 23:59 BST on 23 July 2026. Any submissions received after this time will not be considered for the competition.
Drawing and file type specifications
9. Images should be submitted as a high-resolution JPEG or PNG files no smaller than 2MB and no larger than 10MB. They should have a minimum resolution of 300dpi. Poor-quality scans and photographs will not be accepted. Each entrant may only submit one image to the competition.
10. There are no restrictions on the type of 2D drawing, painting, or specimen drawing that you create, but you must include information on the subject you are drawing. If your observation is from a microscope, you must include the model and magnification.
11. Entrants should keep hold of their original drawings as these may be requested at a later date.
12. AI created images are not allowed.
Subjects and Ethics
13. The competition asks entrants to put the welfare of animals first and to safeguard their environment and that they do not do anything to injure or distress animals or destroy the environment in their attempt to get their drawings. If the Organiser or the judges suspect that a drawing was depicted using cruel or unethical practices, the entry will be disqualified.
14. It is the entrant's responsibility to be aware of and comply with the national or international legislation (e.g. in the case of protected species) governing the country in which their drawings are created.
15. All entrants will be asked to declare that the images they are submitting comply with the competition rules and that the information they provide is complete, true and accurate.
16. Entrants are requested to include details of the species in their drawings when submitting their entry.
Notification
17. Winners and highly commended entries will be announced on the Royal Society of Biology's website in autumn 2026.
18. If the Organiser is unable to contact winners after reasonable attempts have been made, the Organiser reserves the right to offer the prize to a runner-up.
Judging
19. Judges appointed by the Organiser will choose the winners. The Organiser's decision on all matters relating to the competition is final, and no correspondence will be entered into concerning the competition's judging and organisation.
20. Should the quality of entries fall below the standard required, the Organiser reserves the right not to award prizes. Such decisions shall be unchallengeable.
Copyright and Reproduction
21. The copyright of the entire drawing or painting must belong to the entrant.
22. Entrants will retain copyright of the drawings or paintings that they submit. By entering the competition, all entrants grant to the Royal Society of Biology the right to publish and exhibit their drawing or painting at Society events and to use the image(s) in any of our publicity, including, but not limited to, our magazine The Biologist, marketing materials, newsletters, posters, social media channels, and on our website. Entries may also be retained and used for the Royal Society of Biology's media library. No fees will be payable for any of the above uses. Entrants whose drawings are one of the winning or highly-commended entries also agree to take part in post-competition publicity. While we make every effort to credit entrants, including in printed reproductions of their work, we cannot guarantee this. Contact the Organisers at engagement@rsb.org.uk if you have any questions about use of images.
23. Media will be allowed to publish winning and shortlisted images free of charge for the purpose of promoting the art competition without express permission from the artist. The Organisers will try to ensure all images used by the media are credited to the artist.
24. Third parties will not be granted permission to use images for other purposes without express permission from the artist.
Liability
25. All entries are sent at the entrant's risk. The Royal Society of Biology regrets that it cannot accept liability for any loss or damage of any images entered in the competition (howsoever caused) nor for any other loss or damage resulting there from.
Disclaimer
26. The Royal Society of Biology reserves the right to cancel this competition or alter the rules at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, and if circumstances arise outside of its control. Any breach of these terms by an entrant will void their entry. The Royal Society of Biology reserves the right to request the return of a prize if, at a later date, the entrant has been discovered to be in breach of these terms.
Terms and Conditions
Individual entrants are responsible for ensuring that they have read and abided by the terms and conditions before submitting their entries. No allowances will be made for instances where this is not the case. Any entry found not to comply with the competition rules is liable to be disqualified.
Eligibility
1. The Organiser of the competition is the Royal Society of Biology, Postal Address: PO Box 33, 95 Mortimer Street, London, W1W 7GB, United Kingdom. The competition is open to anyone except those involved in its organisation, employees of the Royal Society of Biology and their immediate family, sponsors of the competition, judges and their immediate family.
2. The competition is free to enter and is open to Royal Society of Biology members and non-members from around the world. Entrants must not be professional artists. For the purposes of this competition, a professional artist will be considered to be someone who makes more than half their annual income from the sale of their drawings.
3. Entrants must be within the age range of the category at the time of the closing date (23 July 2026).
4. Entrants under 13 years of age must seek consent from a parent or guardian in order to take part in the competition. Details for the entrant's parent or guardian will be requested when they submit their drawing. The Royal Society of Biology will contact the parent or guardian to confirm details of consent are correct.
5. Prior to submission, entrants must not have offered any of their entries for sale, been paid for any publication of their entries, or won or been runner-up in any other drawing or art competition with any of their entries.
6. At the time of submission, entrants must declare to the Organiser whether they have entered their drawings in any other competition. Such submissions will be accepted for entry in to the RSB BioArtAttack (2D) competition and for the Nancy Rothwell Prize at the judges' discretion.
7. Individuals who have entered the RSB BioArtAttack (2D) in a previous year can enter again in 2026, however must declare in which year they had previously taken part and whether they had received an award. Previous winners of the RSB BioArtAttack (2D) cannot enter the competition again in the same age category.
8. The closing date for submissions is at 23:59 BST on 23 July 2026. Any submissions received after this time will not be considered for the competition.
Drawing and file type specifications
9. Images should be submitted as a high-resolution JPEG or PNG files no smaller than 2MB and no larger than 10MB. They should have a minimum resolution of 300dpi. Poor-quality scans and photographs will not be accepted. Each entrant may only submit one image to the competition.
10. There are no restrictions on the type of 2D drawing, painting, or specimen drawing that you create, but you must include information on the subject you are drawing. If your observation is from a microscope, you must include the model and magnification.
11. Entrants should keep hold of their original drawings as these may be requested at a later date.
12. AI created images are not allowed.
Subjects and Ethics
13. The competition asks entrants to put the welfare of animals first and to safeguard their environment and that they do not do anything to injure or distress animals or destroy the environment in their attempt to get their drawings. If the Organiser or the judges suspect that a drawing was depicted using cruel or unethical practices, the entry will be disqualified.
14. It is the entrant's responsibility to be aware of and comply with the national or international legislation (e.g. in the case of protected species) governing the country in which their drawings are created.
15. All entrants will be asked to declare that the images they are submitting comply with the competition rules and that the information they provide is complete, true and accurate.
16. Entrants are requested to include details of the species in their drawings when submitting their entry.
Notification
17. Winners and highly commended entries will be announced on the Royal Society of Biology's website in autumn 2026.
18. If the Organiser is unable to contact winners after reasonable attempts have been made, the Organiser reserves the right to offer the prize to a runner-up.
Judging
19. Judges appointed by the Organiser will choose the winners. The Organiser's decision on all matters relating to the competition is final, and no correspondence will be entered into concerning the competition's judging and organisation.
20. Should the quality of entries fall below the standard required, the Organiser reserves the right not to award prizes. Such decisions shall be unchallengeable.
Copyright and Reproduction
21. The copyright of the entire drawing or painting must belong to the entrant.
22. Entrants will retain copyright of the drawings or paintings that they submit. By entering the competition, all entrants grant to the Royal Society of Biology the right to publish and exhibit their drawing or painting at Society events and to use the image(s) in any of our publicity, including, but not limited to, our magazine The Biologist, marketing materials, newsletters, posters, social media channels, and on our website. Entries may also be retained and used for the Royal Society of Biology's media library. No fees will be payable for any of the above uses. Entrants whose drawings are one of the winning or highly-commended entries also agree to take part in post-competition publicity. While we make every effort to credit entrants, including in printed reproductions of their work, we cannot guarantee this. Contact the Organisers at engagement@rsb.org.uk if you have any questions about use of images.
23. Media will be allowed to publish winning and shortlisted images free of charge for the purpose of promoting the art competition without express permission from the artist. The Organisers will try to ensure all images used by the media are credited to the artist.
24. Third parties will not be granted permission to use images for other purposes without express permission from the artist.
Liability
25. All entries are sent at the entrant's risk. The Royal Society of Biology regrets that it cannot accept liability for any loss or damage of any images entered in the competition (howsoever caused) nor for any other loss or damage resulting there from.
Disclaimer
26. The Royal Society of Biology reserves the right to cancel this competition or alter the rules at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, and if circumstances arise outside of its control. Any breach of these terms by an entrant will void their entry. The Royal Society of Biology reserves the right to request the return of a prize if, at a later date, the entrant has been discovered to be in breach of these terms.