OISS Photo Competition

To celebrate International Education Week (IEW) 2025, OISS hosted a photo competition open to all members of the Rice international community. The winner was selected by a popular vote by the Rice international community and was awarded lunch for two at the Rice University Faculty Club.

1st place!

From the Houston streets, the downtown towers rise like a steel forest, reflecting the contrast between the city’s quiet corners and its immense, growing ambition.

The winning photo was submitted by Barbora Malíková, Masters student from the Czech Republic.

2nd place

From Brazos Bend, a great tree heavy with overhanging greenery shelters a wooden bench, as if inviting the quiet to settle and let unwritten poetry take shape in its shade.
Photo submitted by Barbora Malíková, Masters student from the Czech Republic

3rd place

An elderly man sitting on a stool in his wood workshop on the streets of Thailand, hard at work not looking toward the camera.
Photo submitted by Sophia Wilson, Undergraduate student from the UK

Congratulations to the winners!

Here are the other competition photos, in the order in which they were submitted.

On the right, a back of the chair is visible. In the center of the photo you can see a reflection of a window on the wall behind the chair, with the shadow of the chair as the focal point.
Photo submitted by Paulina Vieitez, Masters student from Mexico
Mosaic of images portraying various beautiful skies.
Photo submitted by Anindita Dash, PhD student from India
Tokyo skyline during blue hour.
Photo submitted by Haoran Xu, Undergraduate student from China
Broad snow mountain range.
Photo submitted by Haoran Xu, Undergraduate student from China
A cow high up in the Dolomites (Italian alpine range), with the unobstructed view of mountains all around.
Photo submitted by Sophia Wilson, Undergraduate student from the UK
Circling Around One: a ceiling installation in the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University.
Photo submitted by Maryam R. Faghihi, PhD student from Iran
Echoing Into Infinity: mosaic tiles of a mosque dome shown from below, uniting with the blue sky above in Isfahan, Iran.
Photo submitted by Maryam R. Faghihi, PhD student from Iran
Ocean in Destin, Florida.
Photo submitted by Hantao Fu, Masters student from China
Architecture workshop room, big wooden table, tools, architecture.
Photo submitted by Jorgo Qirjaj, Masters student from Albania
Morning Beach in Destin, Florida.
Photo submitted by Hantao Fu, Masters student from China
Sunset photo, REC Center, Rice Football Fields, Sun, Moon.
Photo submitted by Jorgo Qirjaj, Masters student from Albania
Landscape of Lake Tekapo in New Zealand with dark green pine trees, bright blue water, and dry rolling mountains behind.
Photo submitted by Meera Kothari, Masters student from India
A sky filled with dense, dramatic clouds lit by bright orange sunset light, with darker blue and purple shadows creating a vivid, fiery pattern.
Photo submitted by Anonymous
A pastel sunset with pink and purple clouds stretching across the sky above a silhouetted field, with stadium lights and a crane faintly visible along the horizon.
Photo submitted by Anonymous
Fall Colors at Rice.
Photo submitted by Shreyasi Chattopadhyay, Postdoctoral Associate from India
The Engineering Quad at Rice University.
Photo submitted by Shreyasi Chattopadhyay, Postdoctoral Associate from India
A highway and the moon.
Photo submitted by Alan Covarrubias, PhD student from Mexico
The sun and a bike lane.
Photo submitted by Alan Covarrubias, PhD student from Mexico

Thank you to all the participants and to everyone who voted!

For more information on International Education Week, please see https://oiss.rice.edu/iew.