In a valiant quest to help student photographers develop their careers by providing much needed exposure, Google has entered into partnership with London’s Saatchi Gallery, creating the Google Photography Prize. Bad puns aside, the competition is a wonderful opportunity for students across the globe, and winning entries will be available for millions of Google users to display on their personalised iGoogle homepages. A special exhibition would also be launched at the Saatchi Gallery displaying shortlisted works, and the overall winner will receive £5,000 and an invitation to spend a day with renowned photographer Martin Parr.

The competition is open to students in institutions of higher education worldwide, and students can enter by submitting a series of five photographs at http://www.google.com/photographyprize by May 31st. The thirty-six top entries will be selected for the shortlist and made open to an online public vote on June 11. The top six vote-winners will be flown to London for the opening night of an exhibition of their work at the Saatchi Gallery, and a panel of art critics and artists, including Idris Khan, Martin Parr, Michael Hoppen, Susanna Brown, Tim Marlow and Mariella Frostrup, will decide the ultimate winner.

For those unfamiliar with the Saatchi Gallery, it was founded by advertising mogul Charles Saatchi, and has become a renowned exhibition space for young and typically unknown artists. The sort of work displayed at the gallery tends to vary with each exhibition, though Saatchi is known for his eclectic tastes, and interest in unique, challenging and modern forms of art. For more information about upcoming exhibitions, check out our Saatchi Gallery listing at Spoonfed.