College of Optometrists

22 June 2012 Return to news listings

The College of Optometrists has issued a call for nominations for its Research Excellence Awards 2012. These awards honour those who have made an important contribution to research in optometry, optics or vision science.

In 2012 the following awards are available for application or nomination:

•    The Neil Charman Medal for Research
The College’s annual award for outstanding research by College members. The medal honours any research being undertaken at a level above postgraduate, and includes a £1,000 bursary.

•    The George Giles Postgraduate Research Prize
For outstanding postgraduate research by College members. Nominations or applications are welcomed from all PhD or Masters research projects.

•    The Philip Cole Prize for practice-based research
For excellence in practice-based research by College members. This prize honours the important contribution that practising optometrists continue to make to the optometric evidence base.

Mike Bowen, Director of Research at the College of Optometrists, commented: “We think it’s incredibly important to support and recognise research excellence. There are some fantastic research projects currently being undertaken in the fields of optometry, optics and vision science and one of the best ways to help promote this work is to recognise it through one of the College’s Research Excellence Awards.  We are proud to be able to promote research in this way and we invite nominations and applications to help us do this.” The closing date for all nominations and applications is Friday 20 July 2012.

Previous winners include Dr Mhairi Day, of Glasgow Caledonian University, for her work to develop a lightweight device to measure pupil size, eye movements and refractive error, and Dr Jonathan Pointer for his practice-based project to demonstrate the importance of using optimal correction in vision-related studies.

For more information on previous award winners, the application form or to submit a nomination please go to www.college-optometrists.org/research.  If you have any queries about the process, please contact researchteam@college-optometrists.org or telephone +44 (0)20 7766 4346.