Society's first Academic Excellence Awards go to Belfast and London
The first schools of pharmacy to receive an Academic Excellence Award from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society are those at Queen's University of Belfast and at the University of London.
The annual awards take the form of PhD studentships and applications
were initially invited for the new awards earlier this year (PJ, 29 April,
p516). The Society says that the awards will help exceptional pharmacists
and pharmacy graduates interested in pursuing an academic career in pharmacy
to undertake PhD training. The awards were designed to increase the number
of pharmacists who enter and stay in academia as a career and to foster
the important role played by members of the academic workforce in developing
and leading the profession of pharmacy.
Ann Lewis, the Society’s Secretary and Registrar and chairman of
the Academic Excellence Awards Panel, said: “These successful schools
were selected, in part, for the excellent research environment and supervisory
experience they will provide to researchers embarking on their career
pathway in academia. It is hoped that, by supporting, recognising and
celebrating academic excellence, these schools of pharmacy will attract
and retain the best pharmacists and pharmacy graduates into postgraduate
research and training.”
Queen’s University of Belfast will host a PhD on “The role
of organisational culture on prescribing in nursing homes for older people” and
London University will host one on “Antibacterial activity of symmetric
bis-benzimidazole-based DNA minor groove-binding agents”.
Sean Gorman, head of the Belfast school said: “The relaunch of
this prestigious source of research funding will be appreciated by all
UK schools of pharmacy seeking to develop the skills and competencies
that pharmacy graduates require to achieve entry to an academic career
and the highest levels of the profession.”
Anthony Smith, head of the London school, said: “This will be an
exciting opportunity to undertake research in an area where new medicines
are desperately needed.”
Information about the awards scheme is available from the Society’s
website. Applications for the 2008 awards will be invited
in January 2007.
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