The first recipient of an annual undergraduate science award created by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society has received her prize at a ceremony at the Robert Gordon university, Aberdeen.
The Society's Council established the new awards at the suggestion of its Science Committee. The Council agreed that a prize comprising money and a certificate should be awarded annually to an undergraduate at each of the 16 United Kingdom schools of pharmacy (PJ, October 16, 1999, p631). The awards would be designated the "Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Science Committee undergraduate award 2000".
It was agreed that each head of school would select as award winner a student who deserved recognition for hard work in the science content of the undergraduate course. The selection process would use criteria devised by the school and submitted to the Society for approval.
The Aberdeen award winner is Miss Wendy Carswell, who received a certificate and a cheque for £200 for being the top final-year student in the pharmaceutical processes module of the Aberdeen MPharm course. The following award winners have been announced by other universities: Claire L. Yates, University of Bradford; Julie A. S. Bolger, Cardiff university; Rachel Catherine Baird, University of Sunderland; and Kyoko Nakayoshi, University of Nottingham. Because of the change from a three-year to a four-year degree course in England and Wales, not every school of pharmacy is awarding a prize this year.

At the Aberdeen award presentation, left to right, Arthur Williams (chairman of the Society's Aberdeen and North-Eastern Scottish branch), Wendy Carswell, Professor Clare Mackie (head of the Aberdeen school of pharmacy, and a member of the Society's Council) and Dr Peter Duffus (general medical practice teacher practitioner), who presented the prize