Prizes and bursaries
The Faculty of Rehabilitation and Social Psychiatry award a medical student essay prize for undergraduates to show how exciting and invigorating a career in rehabilitation psychiatry can be.
Prize
£100, a certificate and have your essay published on our website.
The winner will also be given a free place at the annual faculty conference and will be invited to give an oral presentation. The prize will also cover one night at the conference hotel, the conference dinner and £75 toward standard advanced travel within the UK.
How often
Annually.
Who can enter
Undergraduate medical students based at universities within the UK.
Essay title
The essay title for the 2025 prize is: ‘How best can we foster hope and maintain optimism in psychiatric rehabilitation?’
Rules
- Please submit an essay of up to 3,000 words on the given topic. The word count includes footnotes, but excludes the bibliography.
- Please do not include your name or the name of your institution in the essay text.
- Please state the word count in your essay.
- Please submit a short CV with your personal details, organisations and institutions removed.
- Entries will be shortlisted and judged by a panel appointed by the faculty executive committee.
- Entries will be judged on originality, clarity of expression, comprehension of the literature, cogency of argument and overall ability to convey enthusiasm for the specialty.
- The faculty reserve the right to withhold awarding the prize should entries not be of a satisfactory standard.
- The conference package is for the year in which the prize is awarded and can't be carried over.
Please email your essay and CV, with the subject line ‘Rehab & Social essay prize’ to facultycommittees@rcpsych.ac.uk.
Submission deadline
Submissions are now open for the 2025 prize and the deadline is midnight on 31 March 2025.
2024
Jessica Sinyor – How important is the patient's environment in psychiatric rehabilitation?
2023
Nathaneal Leaf – How can social isolation be countered in an economic crisis?
2022
Jonathan Kat – How can we maximise the involvement of carers and families in managing enduring mental illness?
2021
Beth Samuels – Do psychiatric rehabilitation services have a role in the current health system?
2020
John Goulder – Do psychotherapeutic models have a role in rehabilitation and recovery?
2019
Rosanna Lush McCrum – What is the importance of the patient's voice in mental healthcare?
2018
George Reid – Is schizophrenia an Autoimmune Condition?
2017
Dearbhla Cosgrove – How can technology assist in improving outcomes for psychosis?
2016
Pei Ling Lim – Is housing of importance to mental health?
Background
The prize is awarded annually for the best paper on rehabilitation psychiatry. It will be awarded to the psychiatrist working in rehabilitation as a trainee, in a non-career grade post, or as a consultant within two years of appointment, who presents the best original work at our Annual Conference.
The monetary value of the prize is determined by our Faculty Executive and is currently £200.
There is no set topic, but the prize given in Douglas Bennett’s name will use his guiding values in adjudication.
He valued creativity with practicality, simplicity with illumination, applicability with humanity and had an eye for clear and rigorous methodology.
This is a high and demanding standard, which he applied to both his research and clinical work and for which he is honoured with this prize.
Prize
£200
The best submissions will be included in the final programme for the Douglas Bennett Prize session at the Annual Conference in November 2024. Those shortlisted to make an oral presentation for the prize will have their delegate fee for that day of the meeting waived.
How often
Annually
Who can enter
A UK or international psychiatrist working in rehabilitation as a trainee, in a non-career grade post, or as a new consultant within two years of appointment.
Rules
- There is no set topic, but the prize given in Douglas Bennett’s name will use his guiding values in adjudication.
- You should submit a paper to facultycommittees@rcpsych.ac.uk with a maximum length of 2,000 words, on one of the following:
- Original work to investigate hypotheses relevant to the care of individuals suffering from severe mental illness
- Description, rationale and evaluation of innovative service for people with severe mental illness
- Critical review/meta-analysis of existing treatments, interventions or services for people with severe mental illness
- Critical appraisal of the impact of contemporary health and/or social care policy affecting the care of people with severe mental illness.
- Those shortlisted will be invited to give an oral presentation in this session which will be assessed by the prize adjudication committee
- No more than three papers will be shortlisted for presentation and the winner will be announced at the conference
- The target audience is our membership, but it's expected that the winning paper would be submitted for peer review and would therefore be likely to appeal to a wider professional audience.
- We reserve the right to withhold awarding the prize should satisfactory standards not be achieved.
Submissions
Submissions are now closed for 2024.
Please email facultycommittees@rcpsych.ac.uk with any queries.
Please note that nominations are now closed.
The award is to honour the career of an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of Rehabilitation and Social psychiatry. This might include contributions in clinical practice, service development, innovation, research, education
and training or management.
The recipient will have achieved national or international status for their work in the duration of, and frequently beyond, their main employment.
Who is eligible to be nominated?
UK-based RCPsych members can be nominated for this award.
Award
A framed certificate and attendance at the Faculty conference. We will meet the costs of conference registration, and (where the conference is held at a UK venue) conference dinner, accommodation and UK travel for the recipient and one accompanying guest.
Where presented
The Faculty annual conference.
Rules
- Nominations can come from any member and must include a supporting statement. Supporting documentation is welcome but not essential. We are unable to accept self-nominations. Be sure to email your nominations by the deadline as those received after the deadline will not be considered.
- Nominees must be UK based.
- Nominees must be RCPsych members in one of the following categories of membership: Member, Fellow, Specialist Associate or Affiliate.
- All valid nominations will be considered at the meeting of the executive committee and regional representatives in June, and the recipient determined by those at that meeting.
- Each member of the executive committee, including co-opted members and regional representatives, will have a single vote. A vote will be taken on the day of the executive committee meeting. Those unable to attend will be able to vote by email contact prior to the meeting. Votes received after the meeting will not be counted. The recipient of the award will be decided by a first past the post system. In the event of a tie, the final decision will rest with the Chair, Vice-Chair and Financial Officer.
- There will be no more than one award in any calendar year and the executive reserves the right not to make an award if it considers there are no candidates of sufficient merit.
- The Chair will invite the recipient of the award to the Faculty conference. The award will be announced and presented at the conference dinner.
- We will not communicate with unsuccessful nominees but will notify nominators once a decision has been made.
Submissions
Submissions are now closed.
Previous winners
- 2021 – Helen Killaspy
- 2019 – Geraldine Strathdee
- 2017 – Tom Craig
- 2016 – Frank Holloway
The Faculty of Rehabilitation and Social Psychiatry offer this bursary to help a foundation year one trainee to attend the Faculty annual conference which will be held in 2024.
Prize
Attendance at the faculty's annual conference, including free registration and where relevant a place at the conference dinner, one night at the conference hotel and £75 towards standard advanced travel within the UK.
Who can enter?
Foundation year one doctors in the United Kingdom at the time of applying.
Rules
- Your submission should include a short CV and a covering letter, explaining in no more than 250 words why you would like to attend the conference and how you will share your learning.
- Please ensure you remove personal details and identifying information including names of organisations and institutions from your CV and cover letter.
- Please send your cover letter in word format.
- The conference package is for the year in which the prize is awarded and cannot be carried over.
- Please email your submission to facultycommittees@rcpsych.ac.uk
Submissions
Submissions are currently closed.
The Faculty of Rehabilitation and Social Psychiatry offer this bursary to fund a psychiatrist from a low or middle-income country to attend the Faculty annual conference.
Prize
The total value of the award is £1,000 to cover the cost of economy class travel to the annual conference, registration fees, hotel accommodation at a specified hotel and attendance at the conference dinner.
Frequency
Biannual
Who can enter
Psychiatrists living and working in a low, lower-middle or upper-middle income country as defined by the World Bank.
Rules
- The competition is open to psychiatrists living and working in World Bank classified low and middle Income countries.
- Eligible psychiatrists intending to apply for the bursary are invited to email us the following:
- A statement of no more than 500 words setting out your reasons for wanting to attend the conference, the ways in which attendance would benefit your career, development or practice, and how you will share the learning experience to others
- An estimate of the funding required.
- An abstract for your proposed workshop, poster or oral presentation
- A brief CV, removing personal details and names of institution's and organisations.
- A copy of a document confirming your medical qualifications.
- Entries will be shortlisted and judged by a panel appointed by our executive committee and their decision will be final.
- Abstracts will be judged based on originality and suitability for an audience of rehabilitation psychiatrists.
- We reserve the right to withhold awarding the prize should satisfactory standards not be achieved.
- The conference package is for the year in which the prize is awarded and cannot be carried over.
- The winner will be expected to give an oral or poster presentation, or deliver a workshop at the conference.
Submissions and closing date
Submissions are currently closed. Please contact us if you have any questions.