ASCEPT and APSA awards and prizes

APSA Prizes

APSA Medal
The APSA medal is our association’s highest award to recognise excellence and lasting contribution to the pharmaceutical sciences, pharmacy practice and/or pharmacy education. The award is made on the basis of quality and impact of the nominee’s research and education, as well as the nominee’s significant contribution to the Association, such as:

• Contribution/impact to the strategic direction of APSA
• Positions held within APSA and/or its scientific meetings
• Role in promoting APSA nationally and internationally
• Other related and relevant evidence demonstrating a lasting contribution to APSA.

The winner of the medal is selected from nominations by the APSA Council. The APSA medal is presented at the APSA Annual Conference, and the APSA medallist is invited to give the APSA Medal Oration.

Nominators should provide a brief summary (maximum 1 page), describing the nominee’s major academic achievements, as well as their significant involvement and contribution to the Association. Nominations should also include a copy of the nominee’s Curriculum Vitae. The candidate must be a financial member of APSA and must be nominated and seconded by current financial members; an APSA member may nominate or second one candidate only. Nominations must be emailed to the APSA President at apsa.general@outlook.com by Monday 31 August 2020.

Emerging Leader Award
To recognise and highlight the research contributions of emerging leaders in the disciplines of pharmaceutical sciences, pharmacy practice and pharmacy education, APSA includes an Emerging Leader Symposium within the conference program. In order to be eligible for the APSA Emerging Leader Award, individuals must be a financial member prior to the abstract submission deadline (7 September 2020) and be the lead and presenting author of an oral presentation. Applicants should have completed no more than ten years of employment since obtaining their PhD; career disruptions will be taken into account. There is no age limit.

Applicants are asked to indicate whether they wish to be eligible for the Emerging Leader Symposium during abstract submission and advise the year of their PhD award.

Student Prizes
Several student prizes are awarded at the Annual Conference in recognition of excellence amongst honours and higher degree student members. In order to be eligible for an APSA student prize, individuals must be a financial member prior to the conference early bird registration deadline (26 October 2020) and be the lead and presenting author of an oral or poster presentation. Submitted abstracts of eligible student members will be considered for the following prizes:

• APSA Pharmaceutical Science Prize (oral and poster presentations)
• APSA Pharmacy Practice Prize (oral and poster presentations)
• APSA Pharmacy Education Prize (oral and poster presentations).

Applicants shall indicate their willingness to be considered for an award as part of the abstract submission process. Students will only be eligible for one award per abstract submission.

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ASCEPT Prizes

In order to be eligible for any award, nominees must be financial members of ASCEPT prior to the judging of the specific award. Abstracts will be considered for the following prize categories:

• Certara New Investigator Awards
• ASCEPT Gillian Shenfield Early Educator Award
• ASCEPT Early Achievement Award for Women
• ASCEPT Garth McQueen Prize (oral prize)
• ASCEPT Clinical Pharmacology Trainee Prize (oral prize)
• ASCEPT Neville Percy Prize (student ePoster prize)
• ASCEPT Robert Whelan Prize (student ePoster prize)
• ASCEPT Integrative Pharmacology/Toxicology Prize (student ePoster prize)
• ASCEPT Special Interest Group Prizes (student ePoster prize)

Certara New Investigator Awards
These prestigious awards are presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of ASCEPT during a symposium designed to showcase New Investigators in clinical and experimental pharmacology and toxicology. Nominations of suitable New Investigators must be made by a member of ASCEPT, who should ensure that the nominee is also a member of the Society.

The application must contain a letter of support and up-to-date Curriculum Vitae of the nominee, and should be forwarded to the ASCEPT Executive Officer at ascept@ascept.org by Friday 31 July 2020. The selected nominees will be invited to present their research at the virtual Annual Scientific Meeting, where they will also be presented with a certificate recognising their Award. Due to COVID 19 and current travel restrictions the final award inclusions are currently being reviewed by ASCEPT and Certara and will be confirmed once finalised.

View full guidelines for Certara New Investigator Awards

ASCEPT Gillian Shenfield Early Educator Award
The ASCEPT Gillian Shenfield Early Educator Award was established in 2012 and is awarded annually to a full member of ASCEPT to recognise and reward initiatives in pharmacology education that lead to enhanced student outcomes. Applicants must have been members of ASCEPT for at least 2 years and at the level of Lecturer Level B (or equivalent) or below. Applicants can be involved in any aspect of teaching in pharmacology or toxicology, either basic or clinical, and should demonstrate that they have changed their teaching practices to improve learning outcomes amongst their students.

To apply for this prize applicants must:

• select I wish to be considered for ASCEPT Gillian Shenfield Early Educator Award and select oral presentation as the presentation preference during the online abstract submission process
• in addition to submitting a standard abstract, upload an Application Package (in PDF format) as part of the abstract submission process.

View ASCEPT Early Educator Award_Guidelines_

All applications will be judged by a panel nominated by the ASCEPT Education Forum. The successful applicant will be invited to present at the at the Virtual Annual Scientific Meeting. Dependent on the final program other applicants may be allocated a poster or oral presentation as decided by the Scientific Advisory Committee.

ASCEPT Early Achievement Award for Women
This award, to be presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of ASCEPT, is to be made to a woman within five years of the award of her PhD, or longer if combined with periods of significant career interruption, for significant achievement in research and scholarship in pharmacology or toxicology.
The award is to recognise the early achievements of women pharmacologists and toxicologists, and to assist ASCEPT to achieve gender equality in ASCEPT’s senior awards and office bearers.

To apply for this prize applicants must:

• select I wish to be considered for ASCEPT Early Achievement Award for Women 2020 and select oral presentation as the presentation preference during the online abstract submission process
• in addition to a standard abstract, upload an Application Package (in PDF format) as part of the abstract submission process.

View ASCEPT Early Achievement Award for Women

ASCEPT Student Member Prizes

Several student prizes are on offer each year at the Annual Scientific Meeting of ASCEPT. Prizes are open to all Honours and Higher Degree (i.e. PhD and Masters) students and clinicians in an accredited training program, or clinicians who have worked for less than seven years full-time since completing their undergraduate degree. To be eligible for ASCEPT prizes, students must be financial members of ASCEPT by the time of judging at the ASM.

ASCEPT Garth McQueen Prize (Oral Communication Prize)
The ASCEPT Garth McQueen Prize was established in memory of Professor Garth McQueen, a member of the original steering committee that established ASCEPT. It is awarded annually for the best oral communication by a Higher Degree student member of ASCEPT. A Higher Degree student includes anyone undertaking a Masters Degree or PhD in a relevant biomedical discipline. Clinicians in an accredited training program, or who have worked for less than seven years full-time since completing their undergraduate degree, are also eligible.

To apply for this prize students must:

• select I wish to be considered for ASCEPT Garth McQueen Prize and select oral presentation as the presentation preference during the online abstract submission process
• in addition to a standard abstract, submit an 800 word project description (in PDF format) as part of the abstract submission process.

View 800 word project description guidelines

Students will be shortlisted on the basis of the scientific quality, innovation and significance of their study by an ASCEPT judging panel. Due to time constraints in 2020, applicants may be included in the ePoster program to be eligible for the poster prizes.

ASCEPT Clinical Pharmacology Trainee Prize (Oral Communication Prize)
The ASCEPT Clinical Pharmacology Trainee prize is awarded for the best research presentation by a Clinical Pharmacology Trainee at the Annual Scientific Meeting of ASCEPT. Eligible trainees will be current ASCEPT members and currently enrolled as trainees in Clinical Pharmacology under the Specialty Training Committee for Clinical Pharmacology. This prize recognises the importance of research to the discipline of Clinical Pharmacology and the importance of experience in presenting at scientific meetings to training in the discipline. All trainees are encouraged to submit abstracts.

To apply for this prize clinical pharmacology trainees must:

• select ASCEPT Clinical Pharmacology Trainee as the abstract theme and indicate trainee status.

The six highest ranked abstracts (the number may vary depending on the conference program) will be invited to make oral presentations which will be judged on the basis of scientific merit, relevance to the discipline and quality of presentation. The remaining abstracts will be considered for poster presentation or oral presentations at other sessions at the discretion of the Scientific Advisory Committee.

ASCEPT ePoster Prizes

All students who submit their abstract prior to the submission closing date and become student financial members of ASCEPT by the time of prize judging at the ASM will automatically be considered for the ASCEPT Neville Percy or ASCEPT Robert Whelan Prizes and any relevant Special Interest Group prizes. For the virtual conference ePosters will not use a standard poster format. Each successful ePoster will include a 3 minute oral presentation and a single power-point slide.

ASCEPT Neville Percy Prize
The ASCEPT Neville Percy Prize was established in memory of Dr Neville Percy, one of the founding members of the Society, and is awarded annually to a Higher Degree student for the best poster communication at the Annual Scientific Meeting.

ASCEPT Robert Whelan Prize
The ASCEPT Robert Whelan Prize was established in memory of Professor Robert Whelan, a co-founder of the Society, and is awarded annually to a BSc Honours, BMedSc Honours, or equivalent fourth year (e.g. Grad Dip Sci) degree student for the best poster communication at the Annual Scientific Meeting.

ASCEPT Integrative Pharmacology/Toxicology Prize
The ASCEPT Integrative Pharmacology/Toxicology Prize was established in 2010 and is awarded at the Annual Scientific Meeting to an Honours OR Higher Degree student for the best poster communication in this category. To receive the criteria and guidelines contact the ASCEPT Executive Officer at ascept@ascept.org
To apply for this prize students must:

• select I wish to be considered for ASCEPT Integrative Pharmacology/Toxicology Prize during the online abstract submission process
• in addition to a standard abstract, submit a 500 word statement as per the prize guidelines (in PDF format) as part of the abstract submission process.

Special Interest Group Prizes
Students whose research falls under an area of interest of one of ASCEPT’s Special Interest Groups (SIGs) will automatically be considered for the relevant SIG Prize. Note that SIGs covering clinical research areas (i.e. the Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology SIGs) may also consider registrants in an accredited training program and non-students who have worked for less than seven years full-time since completing their first undergraduate degree, for their prizes.

The following Special Interest Groups award a prize annually to the student who gives the best overall presentation in their specific research field.

• Cardiovascular Prize
• Clinical Prize for Trainees
• Clinical Prize
• Drug Disposition and Response Prize
• Drug Discovery Prize
• Education Prize
• Gastro Urogenital Prize
• Pharmacogenomics Prize
• Toxicology Prize
• Pharmacoepidemiology
• Neuro- and Behavioural Pharmacology Prize

Due to time constraints, a limited number of oral and ePoster presentations are available for the virtual meeting in 2020. The final oral and ePoster program will be based upon the number of submissions received and review scores.