Prizes and bursaries

Background

This travelling fellowship is awarded biennially from funds bequeathed by Dr John Hamilton, past Honorary Secretary of the then Forensic Section, and College Fellow. It is intended to encourage psychiatrists working in the field of forensic psychiatry to broaden their knowledge and experience through travel to recognised forensic centres.

Proposals to visit developing forensic services in order to support, advise and teach will also be considered. Visits are expected to last about two to four weeks and would normally be to centre (s) overseas.

Prize

£2,000

Who can enter

The fellowship is open to UK higher trainees in forensic psychiatry and to consultants in forensic psychiatry in the UK in substantive posts. 

Rules

  • Please email us a detailed proposal in not more than 1,500 words describing how the time will be spent. Though not essential, you may wish to pursue a research topic or a comparative study.
  • Our judging panel will rate your proposal according to its originality, its relevance to forensic psychiatry, its potential for enhancing services and its feasibility and will look for:
    • a description of the background to the proposal, its aims and purpose, the methods by which these will be achieved and the likely implications of having completed the visit. Be ambitious, but the assessing panel will also place great weight on focus and feasibility. This fellowship may, for example, provide an opportunity to initiate an international research collaboration, or pave the way towards it, but completion of worthwhile research in 2-4 weeks is unlikely. Other examples of supportable proposals include (but are not confined to) learning an assessment or management technique which would not otherwise be possible, or providing training in something along these lines for a developing service which would otherwise have a development gap.
    • details of the centres to be visited and the reasons for visiting
    • intended immediate and short term outcomes and how these will be measured or demonstrated - with a statement of longer-term implications where possible
    • details of the costs involved, including travel costs
    • details of any other sources of funding, where relevant.
  • The following should also be received by the closing date:
    • a full curriculum vitae
    • two professional references, including one from either the training programme director for trainees or clinical director or equivalent for consultants. References may be checked, so referee contact details should be provided
    • information about the centre(s) to be visited
    • an email from the host centre confirming that your visit has been accepted
    • confirmation from your employing authority that study leave will be granted if the application is successful.
  • The winner will be selected by the executive committee, normally via a nominated panel
  • We reserve the right not to award the fellowship if no suitable application is received
  • Your visit should take place within one year of the award being made
  • The successful candidate will be expected to submit a report to our Chair on conclusion of the fellowship
  • The successful candidate will be expected to submit details of how the fellowship fund was used, including copies of receipts.

Closing date

Applications for the Fellowship will open again in 2024.

The Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry is offering a £500 prize for an essay of 5,000 words on any topic related to forensic psychiatry. The winner will also receive a bursary to attend the Faculty conference normally held in March each year.

The bursary will include registration for the full conference, attendance at the conference dinner and up to £250 to cover travel, accommodation and subsistence. 

Bursaries will also be offered to the authors of other high-scoring essays.

Authors of high-scoring essays may be invited to make a short presentation about their essay at the Faculty conference. 

How often

Annual.

Eligible

Medical students from UK medical schools who submit the essay before graduation or no longer than three months after graduation.

Rules

  • The essay should be no more than 5,000 words including footnotes and appendix. The bibliography does not count towards the word count.
  • The essay should be researched from relevant literature and based on theory. Essays which are written around clinical cases are not eligible.
  • The essay can be on any topic related to forensic psychiatry. Some examples of possible topics:
    • Does mental illness cause violence?
    • Are men more violent than women? If so, why?
    • Is public protection a proper role for a mental health service?
    • Are sexually abused children more likely than others to develop mental disorders and/or criminality?
  • Please also include a short curriculum vitae.
  • Please do not include your name in the essay text.
  • The examining panel may decide in certain circumstances that an oral examination is necessary. 
  • Candidates are advised, where possible, to discuss their essay with a Forensic psychiatrist.  
  • The prize will be advertised in the Student BMJ in the spring preceding the year of the award.
  • The prize will be judged by a panel appointed by the Faculty executive committee and their decision is final.
  • The winner of the prize will be awarded £500 and a bursary to attend the Faculty conference. 
  • The authors of high-scoring essays may be awarded bursaries to attend the Faculty conference and may be offered the opportunity to present about their essay.

Submissions Open

Please email us your essay and curriculum vitae as email attachments marking the email 'Forensic Faculty Medical Student Essay Prize'. Please do not include your name or the name of your institution in the essay text.

We are currently accepting submissions for the prize until midnight on Friday 13 October 2023.

Note: Please state in your application how you learned about this prize.

2023

2021

2020

  • Winner - Ramandeep Purewal

2019

  • Winner - Andrew Taylor

2018

  • Winner - Jinal Patel 

2017

  • Winner–Emma Ross 

2016

  • Joint winners–Marissa Lewis and Gunjan Sharma.

Our research prize aims to encourage research in the field, provide a platform for research and to bring the results of research to the attention of faculty members.

Prize

£500 and a certificate.

Frequency

Annually

Who can enter

The prize is open to researchers in the field of forensic psychiatry from all professions, including trainees and senior staff.

Note: Any researcher of any grade who has submitted an oral presentation for our annual residential meeting will be eligible for entry to the prize and will be automatically submitted, providing the entry meets all submission criteria.

Where presented

Our annual faculty conference.

Rules

  • All eligible applications to present at the annual residential meeting will automatically enter the prize
  • occurs prior to the meeting by a panel nominated by our executive
  • is based on of the submission abstract, taking into account originality, methodology, and research findings
  • Shortlisted candidates will be invited to give an oral presentation of their work.
  • Approximately six presentations will be shortlisted for oral presentation
  • The prize will be awarded by a panel of three judges who are nominated by our academic secretary
  • The judges' decision will take into account the academic quality of the project, the quality of the oral presentation and how the presenter deals with questions from the audience and judges
  • The judges' decision will be final and no prize will be awarded if a sufficient standard is not reached.

Submissions and date

Please see conference information for closing date and submission advice. The closing date will be the same as the date for submission of annual residential meeting poster and presentation entries, usually in October each year.

2023

Winner- Dr John Tully

2022

Joint winners - Dr Lindsey McIntosh and Dr Howard Ryland

2021

Winner – Professor Lindsay Thomson

2020

Winner – Dr Roland Jones

2019

Winner – Dr Joanne Parry

2018

Winner – Mr Jack Tomlin

2017

Winner – Dr Conor O'Neill

2016

Winner – Dr Kapil Sharma

We offer up to 10 bursaries for UK medical students to attend the National Forensic Psychiatry Trainee Conference, held in May.

Award

Bursaries include the registration fee and up to £250 to cover standard class travel and subsistence.

Frequency

Annual

Who can apply

UK medical students.

Submissions

Please email a brief statement about why you would like to attend the meeting, together with a short CV, to Faculty Committees.

Closing date

Applications are closed for 2023.

This bursary is to support attendance at the Irsee residential seminar held in August or September each year. The bursary will be paid on submission of confirmation that your place had been booked.

Background

Laws and justice systems are , while attitudes to mental disorder and its definitions may also differ between nations. Nevertheless, we seek and find common ground on mental disorder and ways in which it may lead to harm to others and/or offending.

The Ghent Group is an informal group of European forensic psychiatrists interested and experienced in training in the field. It is named after their first meeting in Ghent, Belgium, in 2004, and focuses on the commonalities and differences in training in different European countries.

A residential seminar has been developed - initially by academic forensic psychiatrists from the universities of Munich, Cardiff and forensic mental health services in Denmark in conjunction with Bildungswerk Irsee.

Over five days, participants study and reflect with an expert in international law from the  Max Plank Institute and senior forensic psychiatrists on the theory and practice of service delivery to the courts and to patients through didactic sessions, academic debate and case discussions.

The seminar 

Details of the next seminar will be confirmed at a later date.

Amount

£1,000

Who can apply

The award is open Forensic Faculty members who are UK registrars in forensic psychiatry or UK consultants in forensic psychiatry.

Rules

  • Please email us an up-to-date CV and a brief statement (up to 500 words) on your reasons for wanting to attend the seminar, the ways in which attendance would specifically benefit your training, development or practice, and how you might disseminate the learning experience
  • Entries will be evaluated by a panel nominated by the executive committee.

Deadline

Submissions are open for 2023. The deadline is midnight on Wednesday 31 May 2023.

Submissions 

Submissions to Faculty and Committees.

Read more to receive further information regarding a career in psychiatry