The greatest challenges of our time cut across disciplines. To take on these challenges, people from all backgrounds are teaming up, bringing methods into new fields, exchanging perspectives and combining ideas. This is how interdisciplinarity is opening up new ways of seeing the world.

Create an original work to show us what this fusion of knowledge means to you.

An independent jury will select the winning work in November. The University of Ottawa will purchase it for $2,000 and add it to the permanent collection at the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation. 

This contest is open to all uOttawa students across all undergraduate and graduate programs, whether they’re studying full time or part time.

Participating students can submit photos of up to three original artworks that they created and still own.

Each work submitted must be accompanied with the following information:

• the title of the artwork
• a description of the artwork, including the medium used (drawing, painting, sculpture, photograph, etc.) and its dimensions
• an explanation of how the work represents the theme of interdisciplinarity (100 words maximum)

Note: The pictures submitted must be in high resolution and can be either JPG or PDF files. Participants must disclose any use of artificial intelligence tools and explain how AI was used to create the work of art.

All participants are asked to email their files to [email protected] by Sunday, November 1, 2026, and include the word “contest” in the email subject line.

If you’re submitting multiple files, group them into a single email.