Presidents' Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychological Knowledge

Each year the Presidents' Award honours a psychologist in mid to late career (10-25 years post PhD), currently engaged in research of outstanding quality that has made exceptional contributions to psychological knowledge.

Award

The Award includes a Lifetime Membership of the BPS and a commemorative certificate.

Deadlines

• Nominations open on 20 January 2025 at 9:00am
• Nominations close on 27 April 2025 at 11:59pm

Nomination criteria

• Nominators must be full members of the BPS.
• Nominees do not have to be members of the BPS.
• Nominees do not have to be UK residents.
• Nominees should be mid-career (as stated in guidance).
• We are unable to accept self-nominations for this award.

Assessment criteria

Nominees will have:

• Advanced understanding demonstrated by making an outstanding contribution in particular sub-field(s) of Psychology (rather than a culmination of a career in psychology).
• Be engaged in research of outstanding quality as evidenced through significant books, journal articles and other specific key contributions or developments.  
• Made a contribution to Psychology through helping others in the research process (such as the supervision of others, co-authoring papers and collaborating with others such as Early Career Researchers).

Judging

The Award sub-committee, which is made up of Research Board members, considers all nominations received. 

They use the factors shown in the scoring matrix below to help with their decision:

Each member of the award sub-committee completes the matrix by scoring each criterion between 1 and 7 (Where 1 = weak, 4/5 = good and 7 = exceptional). We then add up each nominee's scores and calculate the average.  The average scores assist with the decision-making process, along with the wider picture of the nomination.

Please note: The Sub-Committee may decide not to make an award in any given year, or in exceptional circumstances, they may make more than one award.

Nominations

We ask nominators to:

• Complete the nomination form to show how the candidate meets the criteria.
• Include a copy of the candidate's full CV, if available.
• Include the full names and email addresses of three referees, that must have agreed to be approached and provide a reference when contacted.  
• Assume that the judges have no prior knowledge of the nominated.
• Provide clear detailed information and evidence of how the nominated meets all of the listed criteria.  
• Use active language and, where the nominee has worked as part of a team, make it clear what the nominated contributed and how this differed and stood out from others.

Conflict of Interest

Nominators must declare all personal and professional conflicts of interest. This includes but is not exhaustive of nominating a spouse/partner, or any other relation.  

Please note: A Conflict of interest will not prevent acceptance of the nomination, but the awarding panel will be informed prior to them considering all nominees for the award.

If we become aware of any undeclared Conflict of Interest the nomination will be withdrawn.

Nomination Form

Nomination forms must be completed and submitted online.

Submit a nomination

The deadline for submissions is 27 April 2025 at 11:59pm.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected].