Perinatal faculty prizes and bursaries

Prize

£150 and free registration to our annual conference (usually in October/November), including re-imbursement of travel expenses to attend (subject to submission of receipts).

The prize package is for the year in which the prize is awarded and cannot be carried over.

Frequency

Annually.

Who can enter

Undergraduate medical students and FY doctors in the UK.

Rules

  1. Please email us an essay of up to 3,000 words (references and bibliography are not included in the word count, but footnotes and appendices are). Criteria for judging will include your clarity of expression, understanding of the literature and evidence, cogency of argument and overall ability to convey enthusiasm and originality.
  2. 2025 essay title: The Ripple Effect: Exploring the Intergenerational Impact of Perinatal Mental Health Disorders
  3. Entries will be shortlisted and judged by a panel appointed by our executive. Should a minimum standard not be achieved, the prizes may not be awarded. We are not able to provide feedback.
  4. The prizewinning essay will be published on our website.

Closing date

15 September each year.

Contact

perinatal@rcpsych.ac.uk

Medical student essay previous prize winners

2024: Demi Kuforiji: Wounds of the Past, Shadows of the Future- The Unseen Impact of Trauma on Motherhood

2023: Rojbin Yigit: Motherhood and social media - what are the benefits and challenges?

2022: Jonathan Haddad: No one’s asking me how I am… it’s not only her going through this, it’s me. I’m there and all” - importance of involvement of fathers/partners in perinatal mental health care

2021: Rose O'Connell: What is a perinatal psychiatrist and what do they do?

2020: Isabel Raynaud: The Psychological Sequelae of Covid-19 During the Perinatal Period

2019: Joint winners: Chloe Challen and Abigail Jacobs-Walker. Essay title: OCD in the perinatal period: detection and assessment - what are the risks of missed diagnosis?

2018: Joint winners: Sharvari Khapre and Emily Singer. Essay title: How would you approach developing a management plan for a pregnant woman who has a history of postpartum psychosis?

2017: Dean Connolly: Do you believe that the implications for the continuation of sodium valproate as a mood stabiliser in pregnancy are always worse than the risk of relapse of illness?

2016: Jacob King: Discuss how physical comorbidities may affect the outcome of pregnancies in women with severe mental illness

2015: David Rook: Consider the relationship between obsessive-compulsive disorder and childbearing and how the condition might affect early parenting

2014 Maria Lobo: Consider the potential emotional and psychological consequences of female genital mutilation

2013 Alexandra Nowbar: What challenges do clinicians face when prescribing psychotropic medication in pregnancy?

2012 Peter McCann

2011 Rajan Nimalanathan: Should we routinely screen for perinatal depression?

Prize

£150 and free registration at our annual scientific meeting including reimbursement of travel expenses.

How often

Annually.

Who can enter

Undergraduate medical students and FY doctors in the UK.

Where presented

At our annual meeting, normally in November.

Rules

  • Eligible students/doctors are invited to email us a piece of original research, service evaluation or audit of up to 3,000 words. References and bibliography are not included in the word count, but footnotes and appendices are.(Essays are not eligible, but may be submitted to our essay prize)
  • The marking criteria will be as follows:
    • Importance of the project to perinatal mental health
    • Adequacy of design and method
    • Quality of analysis
    • Quality of the discussion and comments and whether they reflect the findings
    • Clarity and quality of presentation.
  • You will have made a major contribution to the project. This may be in the form of a standalone project or a defined part of an ongoing project by a supervisor. Your entry should be accompanied by a letter from your supervisor describing to what stages (design, development of methodology, data collection, data analysis and interpretation of data) you made contributions and to what extent. An entry will not be accepted without this information
  • The prize will be judged by our Chair, Academic Secretary and one other member of our executive. We will rank entries based on the above criteria, and entry with the highest mean rank will be the winner. We are not able to provide feedback.
  • The winning project will be published on our website, and submission of work for the prize will be taken as indicating consent to this. Work may only be submitted if the candidate has obtained consent from any co-authors/copyright holders.

Closing date

15 September each year.

Contact

perinatal@rcpsych.ac.uk

Medical student project prize winners

2024 Izzy Mackintosh:

2023 Asia Ali: Prevalence of neuropsychiatric presentations in women who have been unable to access abortions

2022 Joint winners:

2021 Anna Gallagher: Covid-19 and perinatal mental healthcare: impact on patients and staff

2020 Diana Ples: Impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown measures on access to the Perinatal Mental Health Service within Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Foundation Trust

2019 Lucy Tomasetti: The Impact of Past Maternal Abuse on Mother-Infant Interaction at 12 months

2018 Joint winners

2017 Grace Crowley: Characteristics and comorbid mental disorders of women with dysfunctional personality traits in early pregnancy: a secondary data analysis

2016 Tak Wai Chan: Prescription of Mood Stabilizer in Women of Childbearing Age: An Audit of Clinical Practice

2015 Meeriam Kadicheeni: Women’s Experiences of Antenatal Depression Screening

2014 Joint winners:

2013 Dr Tanushree Nair

2012 Hayley Roscoe

Prize

£250 and free registration to our annual scientific meeting, including reimbursement of travel and expenses.

How often

Annually

Who can enter

FY2 doctors and trainees in psychiatry (CT1/ST1-ST6 or equivalent)

Where presented

At our annual conference, normally held in the autumn.

Regulations

Four posters will be shortlisted for oral presentation at our annual meeting. Shortlisted authors of these posters will be offered free registration to attend the meeting and present their posters.

The prize is awarded to the trainee who makes the best combined oral and poster presentation on the day of the scientific meeting.

Additionally, a certificate will be awarded to the poster with the highest score in the Sustainability*** criteria.

A small panel of members of our executive and/or guest speakers will act as judges.

Rules

  • The criteria for judgement will be:
    • Importance of study to perinatal mental health
    • Adequacy of design and method
    • Quality of analysis
    • Quality of the discussion comments and whether they reflect the findings
    • Clarity and quality of presentation.
    • Sustainability***
  • The prize will be advertised with the annual meeting call for papers. 
  • The winner will receive reimbursement of travel expenses to attend the scientific meeting, which is subject to submission of receipts.
  • You will have made a major contribution to the project. This may be in the form of a standalone project or a defined part of an ongoing project by a supervisor. Your entry should be accompanied by a letter from the supervisor describing to what stages (design, development of methodology, data collection, data analysis and interpretation of data) you have made contributions and to what extent. An entry will not be accepted without this information.
  • The winning project will be published on our website, and submission of work for the prize will be taken as indicating consent to this. Work may only be submitted if the candidate has obtained consent from any co-authors/copyright holders.
  • *** Sustainability criteria: In recognition of our responsibility as psychiatrists to help combat the climate and ecological crisis, we are introducing a sustainability category.  By using the term ‘sustainability’, we mean sustaining the natural world and the ecosystems we belong to, rather than our current unsustainable way of life.  The sustainability scores will count towards the final score for the poster to encourage us to embed sustainability in all our current projects.  The sustainability category will be scored along the Four Principles for Sustainable Healthcare (Centre for Sustainable Healthcare: Integrating Sustainability Into Quality Improvement). These principles aim to improve health and reduce carbon, by lowering healthcare activity and the carbon intensity of our work, and are as follows: 
  1. Prevention: Promoting health and preventing disease by tackling the causes of illnesses and inequalities.  
  2. Patient Self-Care: Empowering patients to take a greater role in managing their own health and healthcare.  
  3. Lean Service Delivery: Streamlining care systems to minimise wasteful activities.  
  4. Low Carbon Alternatives: Prioritising treatments and technologies with a lower environmental impact, bearing in mind across the NHS the highest carbon emissions come from pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. 

 Closing date

The closing date will be the same as the Call for Posters deadline each year. Details can be found on the conference website.

Daksha Emson poster prize winners

2023: Dr Roxanne Keynejad

2022: Dr Heather James

2021: Dr Kate Adlington

2020: Dr Karin Ayre

2019: Dr Aurielle Goddard:  Improving the care given to perinatal patients with eating disorders – a quality improvement project, and Dr Ana Roldan Ramos: Perinatal Mental Health Training - A quality Improvement Project 

2018: Dr Claire Wilson

2017: Dr Kike Olajide: Development of a peer developed psychosocial intervention to reduce the burden of postnatal depression in Nigerian mothers

2016: Dr Catherine Wilson

2015: Dr Chrishanthy Jayarajah and Dr Hannah Driver

2014: Sarah Jones – Prescribing sodium valproate to women of childbearing age

2012: Julie Langan – Review of diagnoses of depression, history of self harm & antidepressant usage in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde resident ‘bookers’

2011: Dr Rehana Akther – A survey of referrals requiring mother and baby unit admissions

The Perinatal Faculty has set up a new prize for trainees in order to promote an interest in perinatal psychiatry and to encourage engagement with the topic.

Candidates are invited to submit a poster for the Perinatal Trainees’ conference (22 January 2025) regarding an aspect of perinatal mental health. Poster submission details will be advertised on the Events page.

Prize

£150 plus complimentary registration to the Faculty of Perinatal Psychiatry Annual Meeting, and up to £150 travel expenses (when the Annual Meeting is face to face) and a certificate.

Eligible

FY1 – ST6 

Regulations

Candidates are invited to submit a poster regarding an aspect of perinatal mental health. A more specific brief for each year’s prize will be advertised in advance of the opening date for submissions.

The judging panel will comprise two consultant executive committee members and one trainee executive committee member.

Criteria for judging will include your clarity of expression, understanding of the topic, originality and adherence to the brief.

The prize is awarded to the highest scoring candidate.

Closing date

To be advertised as part of the abstract submission at each year's the perinatal trainees' conference

Submissions

Submissions to CALC as part of the abstract submission.

This new prize (originally the Perinatal Research Fellowship) is in honour of the late Professor Margaret Oates who devoted her life to the academic and clinical advancement of Perinatal Psychiatry, particularly the topic of maternal suicide. 

This prize will be awarded to a psychiatry trainee to support a research project and/or proposal that will broaden their academic knowledge and experience in the field of perinatal psychiatry. Though not essential, candidates may wish to utilise the prize to visit a centre of excellence as part of their research study. Should the funds be used for a visit, these are expected to be no longer than two to four weeks.

Prize

£2,000

Eligibility

Applicants must hold the MRCPsych and be on an approved higher training scheme in the UK.

Regulations

Applicants must work in the UK.

Applicants should submit an application letter including the following – by email:

1. The names of two referees

2. A brief CV including research experience, publications/presentations, career aims.

3. A detailed proposal ((no word limit, but as a guide we suggest 2 pages) which should include the following:

  • Clear academic aims and objectives and how they will be met if you are awarded this prize      
  • Any potential pitfalls and contingency plans
  • How the proposed study / experience was developed
  • Proposed outputs or dissemination from this experience
  • Information about the host centre, with confirmation that the proposal is acceptable to them
  • An identified supervisor at the host centre
  • Confirmation from the employing authority that study leave will be granted if the applicant is successful.

A panel of psychiatry assessors nominated by the Perinatal Faculty Chair will award the prize. It is not possible to provide detailed feedback to unsuccessful applicants.

Applications will be judged against the following criteria:

  • The academic achievements shown by the candidate to date, based upon their CV and references.
  • The academic value of the proposed visit and /or research project.
  • The future academic plans, and academic potential, of the candidate.

The successful candidate will be expected to submit a report to the Perinatal Faculty Chair and present the outcome of the award at the Perinatal Faculty Conference.

How to enter

Please send your application to perinatal@rcpsych.ac.uk by 31 December each year.

Read more to receive further information regarding a career in psychiatry