British Society of Audiology Research and Prizes
Research
Since 2007, the BSA in conjunction with the MRC Institute of Hearing Research (IHR) has made available an annual fund of £10,000 for research projects involving BSA members with a maximum of £3,000 being awarded per project.
Applications for this year (2010) have now closed and the results will be published shortly. Nominations are now open for 2011 - Application forms, terms and conditions and FAQ's can be found in the Members area of the website.
In 2008/9 two BSA members were awarded research grants:
Dr Kevin Munro - School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester - Does functional imaging show evidence of brain plasticity in the adult auditory system after unilateral earplug experience?
Dr Jaswinder Sandhu, Audiology Department, Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton: The maturation of frequency specific bone-conduction auditory brainstem response
In 2009/2010 the IHR and BSA contributed a further £10,000 each and 5 BSA members were awarded grants as follows:
Alison Boul - Audiovestibular Medicine, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield - The Relationship between measures of hearing in early childhood
Dr Ruth Brooke - School of Healthcare, University of Leeds - Repeatability of neck and lower limb sound induced vestibular evoked myogenic potentials
Dr Sebastian Hendricks - Paediatric Audiology & Audiovestibular Medicine, Barnet & Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust - Computed based hearing assessment for children PLayAudiometrY MEasure (PLAY-ME)
Dr Veronica Kennedy - Department of Audiology, NHS Bolton PCT - Management of Paediatric Tinnitus: A Survey of working practice in the UK
Dr Louisa Murdin - Department of Neuro-otology, National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery, London - Genetics of migrainous vertigo
All successful grant applicants will be preparing poster presentations for the annual conference. This may be in the form of a research proposal, interim report or completed study.
Awards
Three Awards are open to the membership for names of members to be nominated, The Thomas Simm Littler Prize, the Ruth Spencer Prize and the Jos Millar Shield.
The Council make nominations for 3 further prizes, the Thomas Simm Littler Lecture, the George Harris Award and the Denzil Brooks Trophy.
The Awards Panel meets on an annual basis in order to discuss the Prizes. All Awards and Trophies carry a Certificate and are presented at the Annual Dinner of the Society, held at the Annual Conference. The Thomas Simm Littler Lecture, Thomas Simm Littler Prize, Ruth Spencer Prize and the George Harris Award also carry a monetary award.
Thomas Simm Littler Prize and Lectureship
As a result of the generous gift of £1,000 to the Society by the organizing committee of the IX International Congress in Audiology, a lectureship and prize fund was set up in honour of the late Dr Thomas Simm Littler, a pioneer in British Audiology. The awards are made in recognition of academic contributions to Audiology.
• The lectureship is awarded every two years. It carries an honorarium of £300 and a Memorial Certificate.
The 2009 prize winner was Professor Richard Ramsden for Plastic Surgery for the Auditory Pathways
Click Here for a list of previous winners
• The Prize is awarded annually. It carries an honorarium of £150 together with a Memorial Certificate.
This years winner was Dr Robert P Carlyon for contributions to to the basic understanding of mechanisms of hearing for normally hearing people, people with hearing loss, and apeople with cochlear implants.
Click Here for a list of previous winners
Thomas Simm Littler Bursary
One or more grants of up to £300 per year can be awarded to a member or members of the Society to assist in achieving training or related professional goals. Examples of uses to which the Awards could be put are – to help with travel costs to enable the results of a research project to be presented at an academic meeting, or to help with accommodation costs so that attendance at a conference can be extended to include a visit to another department.
Applications should be submitted by 1st April or 1st October each year for consideration by the Awards Panel prior to the June or December Council Meeting.
Ruth Spencer Prize
The prize was established to honour the memory of Ruth Spencer, who, until her death in 1974, was a senior audiology technician at the University of Southampton.
It carries an honorarium of £75 together with a Memorial Certificate.
This years winner was Helen Pryce in recognition of the great contribution she has made to audiology in setting up and running the Adult Audiological Rehabilitation MSc at Bristol University. This is the only course of its kind in the UK, and as such it ensures that people with advanced rehabilitation and counselling skills continue to form part of the audiology workforce, even though the hearing therapy training route is no longer available. The Centre for Hearing and Balance studies at Bristol University is small, and staff thinly spread. Helen put a great deal of work into the development of the MSc on her own, and it is largely thanks to hear dedication and commitment that it has become a successful and popular academic course today.
Click Here for a list of previous winners
Jos Millar Shield
Jos Millar, Chief Audiologist at the Waveney Hospital, Ballymena, retired after many happy years spent in audiological practise.
Jos wished to commemorate these happy years by making an award to the British Society of Audiology in the form of a Shield.
The Jos Millar Award was first presented at the Millennium Celebration held in Blackpool, and is thereafter awarded annually, for the best article to be published in the BSA News.
Jos was the recipient of the Ruth Spencer Prize in 1997.
This years winner was Debbie Phillis (nee Fife) for her article What benefits does a customised vestibular rehabilitation service offer over a set Cawthorne-Cooksey programme of exercise? – A service audit BSA News December 2009
George Harris Award
This Award was set up in 2006 as a result of a sum of £1,000 given to the society by the late George Harris. His Will states that the money is to be awarded by the Awards Committee of the Society to any individual or individuals making a notable contribution to Hearing Aid Audiology in any one year, such amount to be paid to such individuals at such time as the Society shall in its absolute discretion think fit.
This years winner was Josephine Marriage for contributions to clinical aspects of paediatric amplification
Click Here for a list of previous winners
Denzil Brooks Trophy
The Denzil Brooks Trophy was purchased following a sum being given by his widow, Barbara. Denzil, who died in September 2006 was a pioneer in the provision of hearing aids within the NHS. The Trophy is an antique ear trumpet, mounted on a plinth and engraved.
This years winner was Anne Davies
Click Here for a list of previous winners |