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Experience Chemistry Through the Eyes of Children

By Hannah McCarthy posted 02-10-2025 13:54

  

This year marks the inaugural Children’s Round of the International Chemistry & Art Competition (ICAAC), and we could not be more delighted with the response. With nearly 500 entries from young people aged 5–19 across the world, the creativity and thought that went into each submission has been nothing short of inspiring.

The competition offered us a unique opportunity to see how chemistry is understood and expressed through the eyes of children. Entries included artworks exploring applied chemistry in everyday life, portraits of chemists both past and present (including a few Australian familiar faces!), self-portraits of students imagining themselves as chemists, and powerful reflections on global issues through a chemical lens.

The quality and diversity of submissions has been remarkable, and our judges certainly have a difficult task ahead. While the judging process is underway, we invite you to explore the virtual art gallery showcasing the shortlisted entries. We encourage you to share the gallery widely — not only to celebrate the creativity of these young artists, but also because the entry with the most clicks will be awarded the People’s Choice Award and $500AUD cash.

👉 Click here to visit the gallery!

The results of this year’s competition will be announced on 11 November, and we look forward to celebrating the winners with our members and the wider community.

This competition has highlighted the richness of young people’s perspectives on chemistry and its role in shaping our world, and we are thrilled to see how ICAAC continues to grow in the years ahead.

With thanks to our principal partner, Leeder Analytical, for supporting this program!

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15-10-2025 13:46

Hi Hannah, although the presentation was very nice, I'm not sure if my choices were registered correctly. I found myself flipping back and forth all over the place. The one I like best was by D. Pradeep (13 years old; Brisbane, Australia). There were of course some cliches in their, but some artists obviously tried to look beyond them and see what chemistry really means. I liked the one too on alchemy, black cat and all. Perhaps wjhat some of us do isn't too different!

03-10-2025 13:32

I really like Dream Chemical City by V. Ma

03-10-2025 13:26

Hi@Daniel Turner! Thanks for checking out the gallery! Each time an artwork is clicked on (not just viewing it generally) the system registers it. At the moment we’ve had nearly 11,000 clicks across all artworks and 900 gallery views! Which artwork is your favourite?

03-10-2025 13:20

@Hannah McCarthy — great gallery and I'm just wondering what is being counted as a "click" towards the people's choice award?