Awards and grants
Our annual awards allow us to recognise the wealth of talent our members possess, while our member grants enable us to support their important work and research.
We love recognising talent.
Our annual awards bring people together to celebrate and recognise excellence in the research, practice, teaching and education of psychology.
Nominees range from aspiring undergraduates, to those who have already achieved a successful career within the discipline.
Some are member-only awards, while others are open to psychologists from across the UK.
Education and Training Board
Undergraduate Award
The Education and Training Board oversees the awards aimed at those who have contributed to psychological education or who have played a significant role in expanding the profile of psychology as a discipline.
This award is given to those students who achieve the highest overall score in an accredited degree programme at each of the institutions accredited by the society.
Practice Board Awards
Award for Distinguished Contribution to Practice
The distinguished contribution award is aimed at Practitioner Psychologists that have made an outstanding and lasting contribution to a particular or specific area, rather than the culmination of a career in psychology.
This award will likely be made to a psychologist in mid to late career.
Find out more about the Award for Distinguished Contribution to Practice.
Award for Innovation in Practice
The innovation award is aimed at recognising a particularly innovative and creative project design and/ or delivery in practice.
This award will be open to pilot programmes or projects of any size showing particular innovation.
The award can be made to a team or project as well as to an individual psychologist.
Lifetime Achievement in Psychology Award
The Lifetime Achievement award recognises and celebrates exceptional and sustained contributions in a career as a Practitioner Psychologist.
It is anticipated that this award will be made to a psychologist near or after the end of their career.
Find out more about the Lifetime Achievement in Psychology Award.
Research Board Awards
Book Award
This award recognises high standards of published works in psychology, with nominees able to represent academic monographs, practitioner texts, textbooks and popular science.
Authors or co-authors must reside in the UK, and books must be published after 1 January 2021.
BPS/ATSiP Technical Support in Psychological Research/Teaching Awards
The awards recognise the valuable role played by technicians in supporting research and the student learning experience in psychology.
The awards are presented in partnership between the BPS and the Association of Technical Staff in Psychology (ATSiP) and take place annually.
Single and team nominations are welcome with nominations accepted from Heads of Department, Line Managers or equivalent roles.
Doctoral Award
The award recognises outstanding contributions to psychological knowledge by postgraduate research students carried out during the completion of doctoral degrees in psychology.
The judging panel considers published psychology articles which report on the research carried out as part of a doctoral degree, with the winner receiving a £500 prize and commemorative certificate presented at the society awards evening.
Lifetime Achievement
This award recognises those who have made significant contributions to the advancement of psychological knowledge, with an exemplary record of personal achievement along the way.
The winner will receive lifetime membership of the society, £1,000 to spend on furthering an area of research and a commemorative certificate.
Presidents’ Award
This award recognises the achievements of an individual currently engaged in psychological research of the highest possible standard.
This award looks for someone who is mid-career and the winner does not have to be an existing member of the BPS or reside in the UK.
William Inman Prize
The prize recognises published articles focused on the effect of psychology on physical conditions - in particular psychodynamic or psychotherapeutic factors and conditions of the eye.
This award is presented every five years, with the next presentation taking place in 2025.
Our grants provide a great way for practitioners, students, early career psychologists and postgraduates to access funding to support their projects and programmes.
Each award/grant has its own application process, details of which can be accessed below.
Practice Board Grants
Black and Asian Applied Psychologists Fund
This bi-annual fund will offer small grants aimed at supporting members from Black and Asian backgrounds in furthering their psychological careers and enhancing the UK psychological workforce.
Funding can be applied for to support the professional development (including CPD) of Black and Asian psychologists in the UK.
Find out more about the Black and Asian Applied Psychologists Fund.
Research Board Grants
Early Career Conference Bursary Scheme
This bursary is available to support members of the society, who are UK early career psychologists, to attend (physically or virtually) any academic conference, either in the UK or internationally, relevant to their work.
Each bursary consists of up to £250 (UK) or £500 (international) to contribute towards the costs of registration and travel to attend the full conference.
Find out more about the Early Career Conference Bursary Scheme.
Early Career Study Visit Scheme
This grant allows early career researchers and lecturers within eight years of completing their doctoral research degree in psychology, to complete a study visit to another institution.
These visits unlock new research and lecturing skills for researchers, while supporting them in forging a future career path.
International Conference Symposium Scheme
This grant unlocks funding for BPS Member Networks to host a symposium at an international conference.
Grants range from £1,500 - £3,500 and the initiative helps the BPS to showcase UK psychology to international audiences.
Find out more about the International Conference Symposium Scheme.
Joint Postgraduate Award with the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology
This grant creates the opportunity for postgraduate psychologists to be seconded to the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology.
It allows them to support the creation of psychology-related briefing materials for MPs and peers.
Postgraduate Study Visit Scheme
This grant allows early career researchers and lecturers within eight years of completing their doctoral research degree in psychology, to complete a study visit to another institution.
These visits unlock new research and lecturing skills for researchers, while supporting them in forging a future career path.
Research Seminar Competition
This grant opens up the opportunity for institutions to work together and hold joint scientific seminars, with a focus on widening the understanding of psychological processes within any field of scientific psychology.
Grants are available up to the value of £3,000.
Sections Meetings and Events Support Fund
This grant is available to support Section meetings or events between the values of £100-£1000.
These include (but are not limited to) enhancing existing meetings e.g. international speaker expenses, virtual meeting software, networking tools, meeting materials or fully supporting a new research meeting or workshop.
Find out more about the Sections Meetings and Events Support Fund.
Undergraduate Research Assistantship Scheme
This grant provides undergraduates with hands-on experience of research and to help them develop their skills at a young age in order to get them excited about a future academic career.
Find out more about the Undergraduate Research Assistantship Scheme.
The awards for Honorary Fellow and Honorary Life Member are awarded via Senate through a nomination process.
Full members of Senate may nominate to either role, with each nomination requiring a proposer and a seconder.
- Candidates for Honorary Fellow do not need to be a BPS member
- Candidates for the award of Honorary Life Member would normally be a BPS member but are not restricted to BPS members
Please note:
- Current Trustees may not be nominated
- A nomination cannot propose the same individual for both awards in the same year
In exceptional circumstances, the Governance, Board Effectiveness & Nominations Subcommittee (GBEN) will accept nominations from outside the Senate. Nominating individuals should contact the Chair of GBEN and an accompanying eulogy will be required.
In order to complete the proposal process for either award, the following details are required:
- Name, address and email address of the nominee
- Name, address and email address of the proposer
- Name, address and email address of the seconder
- A eulogy of no more than 500 words
The eulogy
This must provide sufficient information about the nominee to allow the panel to consider the application and make an informed decision concerned the merits of the individual in relation to the criteria for the award.
- For Honorary Fellowship, the eulogy should outline how the nominee satisfies the requirement to be a person of distinction who has contributed to the advancement of psychology.
The eulogy should outline how this requirement is met, for example through publication history and the impact of publications, research findings that have contributed in a major way to the development of an area of psychology, leadership of major research projects, innovation in an area of practice which has had significant influence, a major contribution to the development of psychology education and/or a major contribution to the development of psychology internationally.
It is also helpful to include major awards and honours.
- For Honorary Life Membership, the eulogy should outline how the nominee satisfies the requirement to have given outstanding service to psychology through the British Psychological Society.
The eulogy should outline in detail the individual's service to the Society, including membership of major governance committees and the outstanding nature of their contribution to these and to the Society.
The office will endeavour to assist with dates if necessary.
Submitting the proposal
A cover sheet template will be issued to all full members of Senate when nominations open. This should be completed and duly signed along with the eulogy and confirmation that a Declaration of Interest has been completed online via MyBPS.
The Awarding Panel
Nominations will be considered by a panel of at least 3 drawn from the President-Elect and the Chairs of the Strategy Boards. The panel will consider nominations once a year in early summer, and recommended nominees will go forward for approval at the Annual General Meeting in September.
In the event that a nomination is not recommended by the panel, an appeal against the panel's decision may only be made on the basis that the panel did not follow the process as set out.
If a nomination for either award is not successful, the candidate may again be nominated for that award in the following year, but should the candidate be unsuccessful a second time, there should then be a 3-year gap before another nomination of the candidate can be considered.
Contact us
If you have any queries regarding the Honorary Awards, please email [email protected].
Our member networks - the various divisions, sections, and faculties which make up the BPS - each provide their own awards and funding to recognise and support their members throughout their careers as psychologists.
By joining one (or more) of these networks you'll become eligible to apply/be nominated for the awards or grants they offer.
Join a member network
Our networks allow our members to communicate and collaborate with like-minded people in various scientific, professional, regiona