Prizes and bursaries
We established this prize to be awarded for an essay written by a medical student about their contact with a person or people with a learning disability during the course of their studies.
Prize
£250
How often
Once a year.
Who can enter
Any undergraduate medical students in the UK can enter.
Rules
- Submit your essay of no more than 3,000 words about a study module or project that brought you into direct contact with someone with a learning disability. References and bibliography are not included in the word count, but footnotes and appendices are
- Your essay should focus on the ways in which your training has been influenced as a result
- Entries will be judged by a panel of three of our Executive. We may award more than one prize in exceptional circumstances, or no prize if entries do not meet the required standard.
- We are not able to provide feedback.
- We’ll provide a subsidised place for the winner at our annual Spring meeting when the prize will be presented.
Submissions
Please email your essay to intellectualdisability@rcpsych.ac.uk by 1 December, addressing it to the Academic Secretary, Faculty of Intellectual Disability Psychiatry.
We’re delighted to be able to offer this prize to medical students based at a UK university.
Students should present a poster based on a project/audit in learning disabilities at the our Autumn residential conference.
How often
Once a year.
Who can enter
Medical students based at a UK university can enter.
Prize
£75
Rules
- All applicants must be medical students at a university in the United Kingdom and they should present a poster based on a project/audit in learning disabilities
- Two assessors nominated by the Academic Secretary will judge the poster and presentation at the meeting
- Posters will be judged on clarity of presentation, originality of content, relevance to meeting, methodology and clarity of ideas
- No prize will be awarded if there are no entries which meet the required standard.
Submissions
You will find more details on the Autumn conference web page when it is published. Please email your submission to the CALC team.
Closing date
Usually early September. The deadline is the same date as for abstract submissions to our Autumn conference. To check the exact date, please check our conferences and training page.
We’re delighted to offer these prizes in the name of Dr. Alexander Shapiro, who was one of the great figures in the tradition of learning disability psychiatry. He received the CBE in recognition of his extensive contribution to medical literature.
Prize
Two prizes, best poster presentation (£150) and best oral presentation (£200).
How often
Annually
Who can enter
You will be working in the UK as a specialty trainee CT/FTSTA 1-3, ST4-6/LATs and SpR, or be a member of the College in a training post.
Rules
- Three assessors nominated by our Chair will judge and presentation at the meeting
- Both presentations will be judged on clarity of presentation, time-keeping, originality of content, relevance to meeting, methodology and clarity of ideas; for the oral presentation quality of aids is an additional category
- If no applications are of a satisfactory standard, no award will be made.
You can find more details on the Autumn conference web page under Call for Papers when it becomes available. Please email your submission to the CALC team.
Closing date
Usually early September. The deadline is the same date as for abstract submissions to our Autumn conference. To check the exact date, please check our conferences and training page.
This travelling fellowship awarded from our funds is a celebration of this pioneering clinician-researcher who was a role model for many aspiring doctors in the field.
The fellowship is intended to encourage psychiatric trainees and young consultants to broaden their academic and clinical knowledge in a centre of excellence either in the UK or abroad.
We’d expect your visit to last no longer than three weeks.
Prize
£1,000
How often
Every two years.
Who can enter
You must be in an approved UK training scheme working at CT1-ST6 level, or be within the first three years of a consultant post to enter.
Rules
A panel of assessors appointed jointly by our Chair and Finance officer will award the fellowship. Unfortunately, we are not able to provide detailed feedback to unsuccessful applicants.
Your application will be judged against the following criteria:
- Academic achievements to date - based on your CV and references
- Academic value of the proposed visit
- Your future plans and potential.
If successful, you will be expected to submit a report to us and may be asked to present at one of our meetings.
Submissions
Please email your application to intellectualdisability@rcpsych.ac.uk, and include your application letter, the names of two referees and a brief CV that includes research experience, publications/presentations and career aims. Please address your application to the Finance Officer.
Your proposal should include the following:
- Clear academic aims and objectives and how you will meet them if you are awarded the fellowship
- How your plan for the proposed study/experience was developed
- Proposed outputs or dissemination from this experience
- Any potential pitfalls and contingency plans
- Information about the host centre, with confirmation from them that the proposal is acceptable
- An identified supervisor or contact at the host centre
- Confirmation from your employer that study leave will be granted if you are successful.
Closing date
31 December 2025 (this fellowship is awarded every two years).
We established this prize in 1991 from funds donated in memory of the late Dr Brian Oliver, a member of the Mental Handicap Faculty’s Executive Committee, and at the time of his death, Honorary Secretary of the Mental Handicap Psychiatry Specialist Advisory Committee.
The prize is awarded for research undertaken in the psychiatry of learning disability.
Prize
£500
How often
Annually
Who can enter
Specialty trainees (CT1-3 or ST4-6) or consultants in psychiatry (within three years of their first consultant appointment) in the UK.
Rules
- You can submit an original piece of work or a literature review
- You can submit research you’ve collaborated with others on, but the prize can only be shared by two people at most. Please indicate which parts of the research were done by whom, and provide a statement signed by everyone responsible for the research.
Please email us at intellectualdisability@rcpsych.ac.uk
- A 200-500 word summary of what you propose to enter, so examiners can check your entry falls within the scope of the award
- You’ll then be asked to send an essay or dissertation of no more than 10,000 words presenting your research. References and bibliography are not included in the word count, but footnotes and appendices are.
- At this stage, please also include an up-to-date CV together with a list of appropriate publications.
Winners will be invited to present a report at our annual residential meeting. Our faculty executive will appoint the prize examiners. We reserve the right not to award a prize if entries don’t reach the required standard.
We are not able to provide feedback.
Closing date
Please submit your summary by 30 April and your final submission by 30 June.
Award
We’ve set up an annual bursary to help a psychiatrist from a low- and middle-income (LAMI) country to attend our annual residential meeting (usually held in the autumn). The recipient will give an oral or poster presentation, or deliver a workshop at the meeting.
The bursary will cover the cost of economy class travel, accommodation during the meeting, free registration, and attending the conference dinner - up to a maximum of £1,500.
Informal mentors will be identified for the bursary-holder to introduce them to our members and generally help them enjoy the meeting.
Who can enter
Psychiatrists living and working in LAMI countries (Band C and Band D according to World Bank definition: see the membership pages for the full list) who are happy to present at the meeting.
Rules
- A panel of our executive will make the award against an agreed set of criteria
- A cheque of up to a maximum of £1,500 will be awarded to the successful candidate on presentation of original tickets and receipts for all related expenditure
- If an advance against the bursary is needed for travel, alternative arrangements may be negotiated with the our finance officer. In all cases supporting documentation for expenditure will be required
- The successful candidate will need to submit an article giving feedback on their experience at the meeting, and their plans for disseminating their learning in their home country. If appropriate the colleague will be mentored to submit the article for publication to a journal
- We reserve the right not to award the bursary if applications received are not of a sufficient standard.
How to enter
Please email us at intellectualdisability@rcpsych.ac.uk by 31 May (each year), addressing it to the Academic Secretary, and include:
- An abstract
- A brief CV
- A letter stating what financial help is required. The letter should include details of other sources of funding you’ve tried to access. You should also state how you believe attending the meeting will benefit your practice
- A 500-word article on mental health and people with learning disabilities in your own country.
Award
An educational bursary fund of £3,000 a year is available for doctors in training and SAS doctors working in the field of intellectual disability who can’t find funding to attend College meetings and other appropriate educational activities.
As a doctors in training or SAS doctor, you can apply for a bursary of up to £200 to attend any educational event that is consistent with your educational objectives or PDP and has the approval of your clinical/educational supervisor, or training programme director (for doctors in training), or medical director (for staff grades/associate specialists).
Who can apply?
Doctors in training
If you are having difficulty securing funding to attend a Faculty, College or other educational meeting you should in the first instance, discuss this with your placement supervisor or training programme director to make sure attending the meeting is a training priority at that time, and that all possible sources of funding have been explored.
To apply email us at intellectualdisability@rcpsych.ac.uk, addressing your application to the Finance Officer.
Your application should state the size of the grant needed (up to £200), and the reasons why you’ve been unable to find full funding elsewhere.
Staff grades/associate specialists (SAS doctors)
If you’re having difficulties with funding you should discuss this with your clinical/medical director.
To apply email us at intellectualdisability@rcpsych.ac.uk, addressing your application to the Finance Officer.
Your application should state the size of the grant needed (up to £200), and the reasons why you’ve been unable to find full funding elsewhere.
Rules
- In all cases our Chair, together with our Vice-Chair, Academic Secretary and Finance Officer will jointly decide whether a bursary should be granted
- The bursary fund and applications received - granted or refused - will be reviewed annually by our executive, and the size of the bursary fund adjusted to meet demand
- Where there appear to be significant local funding difficulties, the appropriate regional/devolved administration representatives may take action to address this with NHS providers and deaneries.