Challenge Rules

This section was available to students each year and detailed the terms of participation.

By participating in the challenge, you agree to follow the rules stated below by RCSB PDB. 

Participants

Determine if you are eligible to participate

1. All students enrolled in high school and equivalent level home-school in the United States may compete in the challenge.
2. The challenge is open to teams of one to four students.

Participant Information

The following information and forms are required when registering for the challenge:

3. Name and contact information of a team advisor, who should be a teacher or faculty member at your school or home-school who is over 18 years of age.
4. A valid email address for you, your team advisor, and any other team members.
5. The Permission Form, signed by a parent or legal guardian, for each member on your team. 
6. The Actor Release Form, signed for each actor, if your entry features actors who are not team members (including voice actors).

Video Entry – Guidelines & Requirements

As you craft your video entry, check through these guidelines to ensure that your finished product is eligible for the challenge. Refer to the scoring rubric for more details. Video entries that deviate significantly from these guidelines will not qualify to win the challenge

7. Your entry should tell a coherent story that explores both the molecular and the public health aspects of your topic.
8. Give your entry a title that accurately represents its story. 
9. Included narration must be at natural speed, not artificially sped up.
10. Be sure that there are no major scientific inaccuracies.
11. Your video entry must include a molecular visualization of the target protein and the target protein/drug complex using examples from the Protein Data Bank Archive (see Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3 in the Learn section). Visit the Resources page for information on creating/downloading the molecular images/animations.
12. Provide the corresponding PDB IDs for all PDB structures shown in your video.
13. Any other images or animations that you feature in your video should either be either self-created, in the Public Domain, or distributed under the Creative Commons License (with attribution). For image resources refer to the Resources section.
14. Make sure that the story part of your video does not exceed 2 minutes. However, you may let the end credits run beyond the 2 minutes allotted for storytelling.
15. In the credit section, reference all review articles and any other research sources that you used to gather information for creating your video.
16. Do not use any copyrighted soundtracks or sound effects.
17. End your video with the RCSB PDB-101 branding slide.

Entry Submission & Judging

Deadlines, prizes and more

18. Your team must register their video for the challenge between January 17 and April 24, 2023, at 11:59 pm PST. Any entries registered past this point will not be considered in the judging process. 
19. A panel of expert judges will select one winner and two runners-up. They will score the videos based on the criteria listed in this document. 
20. In addition, one video will be designated the winner of the Viewers' Choice Award as voted by the viewers.
21. If you are chosen for a prize, you will be notified by email on or about May 10, 2023. Failure to respond to this email within two calendar days will result in forfeiture of the prize, which will then be given to the entry having the next highest score. Judges’ and RCSB PDB’s decisions are final on all matters. 
22. Your acceptance of a prize allows RCSB PDB to use your name and your video entry for educational, promotional, or other purposes that support its mission, without compensation.

As of 09/19/22