Irish Biological Inorganic Chemistry Society (IBICS) Postgraduate Gold Medal Award
The Irish Biological Inorganic Chemistry Society (IBICS) launched its inaugural IBICS Postgraduate Award in 2019. The prize is awarded annually to one PhD student who has distinguished themselves across a range of criteria throughout their PhD with a focus on research performance, achievements and impact in the field of medicinal and biological inorganic chemistry across the island of Ireland.
The call for nominations for this award is now open. Deadline: Friday, 17th November, 2023
IBICS Postgraduate Award Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for the award, the applicant must:
- hold IBICS membership for the current year (if the applicant is not currently a member, they may get further membership details from the IBICS honorary secretary, Professor Orla Howe (secretary@ibics.ie)
- be currently enrolled in any PhD programmes relevant to the field of medicinal and biological inorganic chemistry in an Irish-/Northern Irish-based institution;
OR
have already received their PhD within the field of medicinal and biological inorganic chemistry from an Irish-/Northern Irish-based institution within six months prior to the deadline for receipt of nominations;
- not be an IBICS postgraduate awardee from previous years.
Nomination Process
Nominations are solicited from the biological inorganic chemistry community on the island of Ireland.
Self-nomination is acceptable.
Nominations should consist of:
- A cover letter from the nominee (1 page maximum) describing how they fit the selection criteria (see below);
- A letter of support from the PhD supervisor on headed paper (1 page maximum);
- A report (maximum of 4 pages) under the following headings (typed in Times New Roman font, size 12, line spacing 1.15, justified):
- title of the PhD project/thesis
- year of PhD
- expected date and/or date of PhD graduation
- summary of research achievements to include
- list of publications
- list of research presentations (both poster and oral contributions)
- list of awards/prizes/scholarships/honors received
- list of contributions to the enrolling institution (g. teaching/demonstrating/supervising activity, engagement in public events and outreach activities, membership of committees, etc.)
- list of taught modules taken (for students on structured research programmes).
Reports that exceed this four-page limit will not be reviewed.
Please note also that the recipient of this award must be available to deliver their IBICS postgraduate award lecture at a future IBICS symposium
Submission and Deadline
Applications should be submitted electronically as one single PDF file by the deadline and be addressed to the IBICS honorary secretary, Professor Orla Howe (secretary@ibics.ie). The selection will be made by a review panel consisting of the IBICS President or nominee and additional members of the IBICS Standing Committee where there are no conflicts of interest.
Selection Process
The award will be presented to one PhD student or recent graduate who has demonstrated significant impact in the spirit of the IBICS mission. Specifically, all details provided in the nomination will be reviewed (cover letter describing how the nominee fits the selection criteria; letter of support from the PhD supervisor; application with details of research and other scholarly and outreach outputs).
The Award
The awardee will be announced immediately after the selection process has been completed.
The official award ceremony will be held at the next Symposium of the Irish Biological Inorganic Chemistry Society during which the recipient will receive a certificate and a medal. They will also be expected to deliver their award lecture during this IBICS symposium.
IBICS Postgraduate Gold Medal Awardee 2023
Dr Amir Abdo (University of Galway/CÚRAM Centre for Medical Device Research)
Supervisor: Professor Abhay Pandit
and supported by Dr Pau Farràs and Dr Sharon Glynn
Pictured here is Amir being presented with his Gold Medal
by Professor Celine Marmion, former IBICS President
Highly Commended:
Karolina Wojtczak (University of Galway)
Dr Mark Stitch (UCD)
Dr Neville Murphy (University of Galway)
Paul O’Dowd (RCSI)
IBICS Postgraduate Gold Medal Awardee 2022
Meghan O’Shaughnessy (TU Dublin)
Supervisor: Professor Orla Howe
IBICS Postgraduate Gold Medal Awardee 2021
Lorna Doyle (Trinity College Dublin),
pictured here with IBICS President, Professor Mick Devereux
Supervisor: Professor Aidan McDonald
Highly Commended:
Stephen Barrett (Maynooth University) 2021
Joseph Hennessy (Dublin City University) 2021
Highly Commended:
Karmel S. Gkika (Dublin City University) 2020
Meghan O’Shaughnessy (TU Dublin) 2020
Meghan Winterlich (NUIG) 2020
IBICS Postgraduate Gold Medal Awardee 2019 Muhib Ahmed
(Maynooth University)
Highly Commended:
Anna Banasiak (TU Dublin) 2019
Meghan Winterlich (NUIG) 2019
Hollie Jenkins (TU Dublin) 2019
IBICS Symposia to Date:
IBICS-1: Maynooth University/Dublin Institute of Technology – Nov 2017 (Plenary speakers: Prof Michael Hannon, University of Birmingham, UK and Prof Walter Berger, Medical University of Vienna, Austria)
IBICS-2: NUI Galway – Nov 2018 (Plenary speakers: Prof Eva Fresinger, University of Zurich, Switzerland and Prof Geoff Gadd, University of Dundee, Scotland)
IBICS-3: RCSI – Nov 2019 (Plenary speakers: Prof Sigridur Suman, University of Iceland and Prof Graeme Walker, University of Abertay, Scotland)
IBICS-4: Virtual (Inter-Institutional) – Nov 2020 (Plenary speakers: Prof Vincent Pecoraro, University of Michigan, USA and Dr Ulrike Binder (Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria) and special guest speaker: Prof Nils Metzler-Nolte, Ruhr-University-Bochum, Germany, Chief Editor of the Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry)