The goal of health psychology is to study the psychological processes underlying health, illness and health care, and to apply these findings to the promotion and maintenance of health, the analysis and improvement of the health care system and health policy formation, the prevention of illness and disability, and the enhancement of outcomes for those who are ill or disabled.
Awards & Funding
Awards
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DHP Excellence in Health Psychology Early Career Award
Show contentOverview
The Excellence in Health Psychology Early Career Award is a new award which celebrates the work of those who are in training (Stage 2 Trainees) or are qualified and within 10 years of completing Stage 1 training (MSc Health Psychology). We welcome nominations from or on behalf of trainees or recently qualified Health Psychologists who have demonstrated excellence in the discipline. The deadline for nominations is the 24th May 2021, 4pm.
Types of nominations
Nominations can be made either by yourself or on behalf of an individual who works in the area of health psychology.
Entry criteria
The Nominee:
- May be an individual or a small collaborative team (e.g. for a group-based project)
- Must be member of the BPS Division of Health Psychology (DHP)
- Must be enrolled on a BPS accredited Qualification in Health Psychology and/or working in the area of Health Psychology
- Must be within ten active years of their Master's degree in Health Psychology (Stage 1)
Please note the term “active” is intended to exclude any period of career break and is full-time equivalent.
Assessment criteria
We will be assessing the extent to which a nominee/ lead of a small collaborative team has demonstrated excellence in Health Psychology against the areas below. As an early career award, it will be evaluated in this context, and it is expected that this work will normally have been completed under supervision or following a period of recent supervision.
Execution: How well they met the aims of a project in relation to consultancy, research, teaching and training or psychological intervention, with clear evidence of professional competence (e.g. ethical considerations and good practice).
Evidence base: Quality of gathered information (in terms of theoretical grounding, methodology, data gathered from stakeholders/practitioners/clients/students, data gathered from an organisation, community and/or population)
Impact: To what extent did this work have an impact on individuals, communities, organisations and stakeholders (for example contribution to learning, facilitating practice, enhancing health outcomes, or impact on policy)
Visibility: To what extent does this work illustrate the value of Health Psychology
Each member of the review panel will score each criteria between 1 and 7 (1 = weak; 7 = exceptional). A minimum of 16 points must be achieved in order to be eligible to be considered to receive the award.
All nominations must be supported by two independant references (not including the nominator).
The committee may award one DHP Excellence in Health Psychology Early Career Award per year. If no submissions of sufficient merit are received, no award will be made.
Guidance for nominations
Click here to preview the online submission form which will help you to prepare your submission. We advise that you save your submission onto a Word Document so that you can copy and paste and upload to questions as requested.
How to apply
Click here to start the online submission process. Please note that once you start you cannot leave and go back to your submission, please see the above section for help preparing your submission.
Judging process
Awards will be judged by the Division of Health Psychology committee, including early career Health Psychologists.
Nominations will close at 4pm on Monday 24th May 2021
The Award
The award will be presented at the DHP AGM on the 24th June from 1pm
The winner will:
- Receive a certificate
- Receive an award
- Be named on the DHP website and in the newsletter
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DHP Distinguished Contribution to Health Psychology Award
Show contentOverview
This award is aimed at Division of Health Psychology members whose work has made an outstanding and lasting contribution to the discipline of health psychology and for the benefit of individuals, communities, stakeholders or organisations. This award will likely be made to a psychologist in mid to late career, and nominees should not be within 10 years of the start of their training in health psychology (e.g. Stage 1/ Grand-parenting). Please see criteria for the Excellence in Health Psychology Early Career Award for awards to individuals who are early career.
Types of nominations
Nominations can be made either by or on behalf of a psychologist who works in the area of health psychology.
Nominator can be anyone; Nominations are not limited to UK residents and need not be from Society/DHP members.
Self-nominations will be accepted; however, an two references will be required.
Entry criteria
Nominees for the Distinguished Contribution to Health Psychology award should be:
- Current or retired Health Psychologists or psychologists working in health psychology.
- Members of the Division of Health Psychology (DHP)
- Must be ten active years post the beginning of training/work in health psychology
Please note the term “active” is intended to exclude any period of career break and is full-time equivalent.
Assessment criteria
We will be assessing the extent to which a nominee has demonstrated a distinguished contribution to health psychology against the areas below.
- Demonstrated outstanding contribution in health psychology.
- Invested in Psychology by improving psychological knowledge and understanding in this area of health psychology.
- Impacted on people, organisations, communities and/or other stakeholders in this area of health psychology.
- Supported equality, diversity and inclusion.
Demonstrated Outstanding Contribution - demonstrated a sustained contribution to a particular area of health psychology
- demonstrated best practice including methodological rigour/ ethical standards
- a pioneer/ showing innovation in health psychology
- impact in health psychology outside primary job role
- showed personal commitment
Invested in Psychology
- improved psychological understanding/ knowledge in health psychology
- positive leader of a service, organisation or field of research in health psychology
- collaborated with other professionals
- contributed to the work of the society in the area of health psychology
Impacted on people / groups / communities / organisations / stakeholders
- improved public understanding of a health psychology topic
- positive impact on individuals/ groups, communities, organisations and/or stakeholders
- national and/or international impact
- collaboration with the public/clients/experts by experience
Supported Equality Diversity and Inclusion
- challenged social inequalities (in relation to gender, race, ethnic origin, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, disability or age)
- work has directly had significant and continued impact for people from marginalised and oppressed social groups
- impact in the support of EDI in psychology both within own organisation and in the wider psychology community
- has embedded EDI into their own work
- evidence of contribution to governance and/ or taking leadership in EDI
Each member of the review panel will score each criteria between 1 and 7 (1 = weak; 7 = exceptional).
A minimum of 45 points must be achieved in order to be eligible to be considered to receive the award.
All nominations must be supported by two independant references (not including the nominator).
The committee may award one Distinguished Contribution to Health Psychology Award per year. If no submissions of sufficient merit are received, no award will be made.
Guidance for nominations
Click here to preview the online submission form which will help you to prepare your submission. We advise that you save your submission onto a Word Document so that you can copy and paste and upload to questions as requested.
How to apply
Click here to start the online submission process. Please note that once you start you cannot leave and go back to your submission, please see the above section for help preparing your submission.
Judging process
Awards will be judged by a panel from the DHP committee.
Nominations will close on 4pm on Monday 24th May 2021
The Award
The award will be presented at the DHP AGM on the 24th June from 1pm
The winner will:- Receive a certificate
- Receive an award
- Be named on the DHP website and in the newsletter
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DHP Chair’s Mentoring Award
Show contentThe DHP Chair’s Mentoring Award is a new award which celebrates excellence in mentoring in health psychology.
Of all the activities in academia, mentoring may be one of the most valuable, with the least recognition. Health Psychology is a unique discipline with a great history of academic mentoring, and we want to celebrate this with an annual DHP Mentoring Award.This award has been developed to recognise and celebrate outstanding mentors for their contributions to students, trainees and early career researchers in Health Psychology. These awards will acknowledge those who have served as exemplary role models, and offer recognition of the time, dedication, inspiration, enthusiasm, and support that they bring to successful mentor/mentee relationships.
We welcome nominations on behalf of members of the Division of Health Psychology who have demonstrated excellence in mentoring.
Types of nominations
All nominations must be supported by four nominators: a principal nominator, who should be a member of the DHP (in any capacity) and three supporting nominators. The four nominators must be former mentees and must not all represent a single time period for the mentor, though they may overlap.
Entry criteria
Nominee Must be member of the BPS Division of Health Psychology (DHP)
Assessment criteria
We will be assessing the extent to which a nominee has demonstrated excellence in mentoring in health psychology against the areas below.
- A demonstrated commitment to fostering the intellectual, creative, scholarly, and professional growth of her/his mentees so that they may function effectively in the field of health psychology and with measurable success at the national/international level.
- Evidence of sustained commitment to a professional mentoring relationship that results in career growth or personal development of mentees.
- An overall track record of mentoring and academic citizenship.
If no submissions of sufficient merit are received, no award will be made.
Guidance for nominations
Click here to preview the online submission form which will help you to prepare your submission. We advise that you save your submission onto a Word Document so that you can copy and paste and upload to questions as requested.
How to apply
Click here to start the online submission process. Please note that once you start you cannot leave and go back to your submission, please see the above section for help preparing your submission.
Judging process
Awards will be judged by a panel from the DHP committee. The committee may award one DHP Chair’s Mentoring award per year. If no submissions of sufficient merit are received, no award will be made.
Nominations will close at 4pm on Monday 24th May 2021
This award is bestowed as a once in a lifetime achievement. Past winners are not eligible to receive a second award.
The Award
The award will be presented at the DHP AGM on the 24th June from 1pm
The winner will:
- Receive a certificate
- Receive an award
- Be named on the DHP website and in the newsletter.
- All those nominated will have their name, and that of their nominators included in an online ‘Hall of Thanks’
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DHP Research Networking and Public Engagement Prize
Show contentThe DHP Research Networking and Public Engagement Prize is a new prize which seeks to support DHP members to widen their research networks and/or engage stakeholders, public and patients in research through hosting a networking event (webinar) in an area of health psychology. The purpose of the prize is to stimulate discussion between researchers in health psychology, other disciplines, the public and other stakeholders.
Types of applications
We welcome applications from any psychologists who are currently researching in any area of health psychology. Applications may relate to exploring new ideas (e.g. as a result of a recent research finding or development), expanding stakeholder networks (e.g. new sectors or disciplines), and/or engaging individuals or groups from the public/patient/community. The event is expected to have a minimum of 10 attendees and maximum of 30 attendees.
Entry criteria
The lead applicant must be a FULL member of the BPS Division of Health Psychology (DHP)
Assessment criteria
We will be assessing applications for this prize against the areas below.
- Importance of the research area for health psychology
- Clearly defined goals for the event
- Creative interactive activities that will foster sustainable networks for the future
- Clearly proposed outcomes that show the potential impact of the event for facilitating research in health psychology to improve psychological knowledge and understanding.
As a condition of this prize it is expected that grant holder would write an article for Health Psychology Update or the DHP Newsletter, reporting on the event (for example, describing its main themes, content and any salient outcomes or conclusions). Submission of the draft article should be no more than 3 months after the seminar has been held.
Guidance for nominations
Click here to preview the online submission form which will help you to prepare your submission. We advise that you save your submission onto a Word Document so that you can copy and paste and upload to questions as requested.
How to apply
Click here to start the online submission process. Please note that once you start you cannot leave and go back to your submission, please see the above section for help preparing your submission.
Judging process
Applications will be judged by a panel of from the DHP committee. The committee may award one research networking and public engagement prize per year. If no submissions of sufficient merit are received, no award will be made.
Nominations will close at 4pm on Monday 24th May 2021
The Prize
The prize will be presented at the DHP AGM on the 24th June from 1pm
The winner will:
- Have their networking webinar event funded by the DHP, plus any agreed additional spend submitted and agreed as part of the application process.
- Host their networking event by November 2021.
- Be named on the DHP website and in the newsletter.
- Is expected to contribute to ether Health Psychology Update or the newsletter within three months of their event.
- Importance of the research area for health psychology
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MSc Health Psychology Research Project Prize (2020-2021 Nominations Now Closed)
Show contentNOMINATIONS FOR 2021 NOW CLOSED. NOMINATIONS FOR 2022 WILL OPEN IN NOVEMBER.
If you have supervised an outstanding project with one of your MSc Health Psychology students, please help us celebrate by nominating them for the MSc Health Psychology Research Project Prize.
Nominations for outstanding research from students who show the potential to share their research with a health psychology scientific audience are invited.
The prize is a “prize winner” oral presentation at the DHP conference, an award and certificate. We will provide a bursary to register and present at the online DHP conference in June 2021 . We also expect the winner to write a brief overview of their work for Health Psychology Update.
We encourage you to help us celebrate health psychology research by submitting your nominations online by 17.00 on 4th January 2021. Please note that this year we ask you to include the full project on the nomination form to facilitate an efficient review process.
The Criteria
The DHP invites BPS accredited MSc Health Psychology course leaders to nominate the MSc student with the highest grade for their research project. It is expected that award winners will not only have an outstanding MSc project, but will also have the potential to translate this work into a peer-reviewed publication. Work can be in any area of health psychology.
All abstracts of award nominees will be reviewed by the Research Sub-Committee, judged on appropriate length, quality, clarity and original contribution to the field of health psychology. A shortlist will be formed from this process, and the submitted full MSc thesis of shortlisted nominees will be reviewed. This will then be judged on the following criteria on a 0-5 point scale:
1) Clear and concise structure
2) Original contribution to the field of health psychology
3) Critical appraisal of the literature
4) Depth of knowledge
5) Detailed methodology
6) Depth/appropriateness of analysis
7) Strong and relevant conclusionThe MSc research project with the highest number of points will be awarded the DHP Award for Outstanding MSc Health Psychology Research Project.
NOTE: Nominations must come from MSc Health Psychology Course Leaders. Self-nominations are not accepted.
Deadline for submission of nominations: 17.00 on 4th January 2021.
Applications will be considered by members of the DHP committee, including the Research Lead. The award will be presented at the DHP Conference. Reasonable expenses will be provided to support conference attendance in the form of a bursary.
The DHP reserves the right not to make an award if no suitable nominations are received.
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Previous Award Winners
Show contentAward for Distinguished Contribution to Health Psychology
2013 Professor Susan Michie (University College London)
Award for Early Career Researcher
2014 Dr Stephan Dombrowski (University of Starling)
2013 Dr Joe Chilcot (Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London)
Award for Outstanding Contribution Health Psychology Practice
2013 Dr Nicky Thomas (Guys & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust)
Award for Outstanding Contribution to Research
2016 Professor Ronan O'Carroll (University of Stirling)
2014 Professor Jane Wardle (University College London)
Award for Oustanding MSc Thesis
2017 Winner Holly Bear (King’s College London)
2017 Runners Up Hannah Long (The University of Manchester)
Malcolm Bray (City University)
2016 Winners Olga Peski (University College London)
Sarah Higgins (Staffordshire University)
2014 Winners Hollie Young (University of Bath)
Lai Siew Tim (University of Starling)
2013 Winner Miroslava Koseva (Bath University)
2013 Runners Up Vanessa Lee (King’s College London)
Lua Olgahere (University of Ulster)
Early Career Health Psychology Practitioner Award
2017 Dr Daniel Masterson (Health Psychologist at HAPPIA)
Funding
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Annual Conference Bursaries - 2021 Applications closed
Show contentBursary Applications welcome for the 2021 Division of Health Psychology (DHP) Annual Conference
The DHP are offering bursaries to cover the registration cost of the online DHP Annual Conference on 29-30 June 2021. This year we have a limited number of bursaries available:
- Student bursaries
- DHP members bursaries
- Bursaries for non-DHP members that have an interest in health psychology practice and research
Applications are now closed
If awarded a bursary you will be invited to write a piece for Health Psychology Update (HPU) but this is not an essential requirement of the bursary. You will be given support from one of the HPU sub-editors and your work will go through usual peer review procedures. Alternatively, you can support part of the conference programme (e.g. by chairing a session) but this is not an essential requirement.
The committee reserves the right not to make bursary awards should no suitable candidates be found.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Not have received a conference bursary from the DHP in the last 5 years
- For student bursaries DHP membership is not essential and all students can apply including MSc, PhD and stage 2 trainees. Presenting at the conference is not essential.
- For DHP members bursaries presenting at the conference is desirable but not essential.
- For non-DHP members presenting at the conference is not essential.
We welcome applications from everyone and strongly encourage applications from individuals with protected characteristics (e.g. race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, disability, age, etc.).
How to apply:
Applications are now closed
You will be asked for the following information:
1. The bursary category you are applying for
2. Your Name and affiliation, and BPS number if you have one
3. A brief 500 word statement explaining why you should be awarded a bursary and how you will benefit from the conference.
Only applications made online will be accepted.
How your application will be reviewed:
1. Eligibility checks will be carried out by the BPS office. Ineligible submissions will not be sent out for review.
2. Your submission will be anonymised before sending to the panel.
3. The panel, compromised of 3 members of the national DHP committee, will review your application on the following criteria:
Enthusiasm for attending and presenting at a DHP conference.
Reasons provided of benefits of attending
4. The highest rated submissions will receive bursaries. In the event of equal ratings, the panel will discuss and agree awards.You will be informed of the outcome of your application by the end April 2021
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Public Engagement Grants - 2020 Applications Closed
Show contentFurther information regarding 2021 to be confirmed
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Research Seminar Grant - 2020 Applications Closed
Show contentFurther information regarding 2021 to be confirmed
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Previous Grant Recipients
Show contentPublic Engagment Grant
2017 Dr Katherine Finlay, University of Buckingham
Creating a multi-purpose pop-up lab: Exploring role of health psychology in the context of pain management
2016 Dr Debbie Smith & Dr Melissa Noke, University of Manchester
Health psychology and Manchester: What is happening in Manchester and how can it help you?
2015 Raluca Matei (Royal Northern College of Music) & Dr Benjamin Gardner Sood (King's College London)
"Performing Health Psychology: raising awareness of health psychology among orchestral players"
Professor Karen Rodham & Dr Rachel Povey (Staffordshire University)
"Capturing the essence of Health Psychology": An image competition open to health psychology practitioners, academics and trainees
2012 Professor Anna van Wersch & Kate Greenwell, Teeside University & North Tyneside General Hospital
Health Psychology work experience programme for MSc Health Psychology and A-Level psychology students
Reema Sirriyeh, University of York
Educational workshop for A Level Psychology students: Applying a model of occupational stress to the experiences of health professionals
Research Seminar Grant
2017 Dr Suzanne McDonald (Newcastle University) and Professor Derek Johnston (University of Aberdeen)
‘Making it personal’: Developing and advancing methods for personalised behavioural medicine
2015 Raluca Matei (Royal Northern College of Music), Dr Benjamin Gardner Sood (King's College London), Professor Jane Ginsborg (Royal Northern College of Music) & Professor Aaron Williamon (Royal College of Music)
"The role of health psychology in the promotion of health among music students"
2014 Kristina Curtis (The University of Warwic) & David Crane (University College London)
Development and evaluation of mHealth interventions
Dr Angeliki Bogosian (King's College London) & Dr Liesbeth van Vliet (Kings College London)
Long-term conditions in children: diagnosis, management and palliative care
2013 Dr Eleni Vangeli, Dr Sinead NiMhurchadha & Fabiana Lorencatto, Atlantis Healthcare & NHS Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training, UCL
Optimising chronic illness self-management: identification, development and synthesis of behaviour change techniques
Dr Debbie Smith, University of Manchester
Health inequalities in maternity care: exploring the role of health psychology to improve women's health