Michael King PhD Prize

To honour the memory of Professor Michael King, an annual Prize is awarded to the best PhD Thesis in Mental Health at UCL

Key Information

Eligibility

Applications are open to UCL PhD Awardees who have conducted thesis work with a primary focus in mental health, regardless of their discipline or Faculty.

For the 2024 awards we will consider applications from awardees whose PhD degrees were officially awarded between 24th August 2023 to 23rd August 2024*.

(*This corresponds to the official award date as stated in the award letter and as reflected on Portico,  i.e. when all the requirements for completion have been met. This is not the date of the viva or the date when corrections are approved).

Application Process

The application form must be completed and submitted by the candidates.

The form includes:

  • A 50-word student biography
  • Thesis Abstract (as presented in the Thesis)
  • Impact statement (as presented in the Thesis)
  • Personal statement (500-words max)
  • Supporting statement from the Sponsor. The ‘Sponsor’ can be the student’s primary supervisor or any member of the thesis committee.

Please return the application form to m.a.thomas@ucl.ac.uk by the deadline. 

Deadline

The application deadline is 5pm on 23rd August 2024.

Assessment

Applications will be assessed by a Panel of UCL Mental Health Experts which will decide based on overall academic excellence and contribution to the field of mental health.

The Prize

We will award one £500 prize. One award will be made per year. The award will be announced at the UCL Institute of Mental Health International Conference, taking place on Wed 18th September 2024. 

Link

Professor King was the first Director of the UCL Division of Psychiatry and led psychiatry research at the Royal Free Hospital for many years before the Division was created. He made a huge number of important contributions to psychiatry, including risk prediction for mental disorders, and the evaluation of complex interventions. His research interests were far ranging and included the mental health and stigma experienced by people from sexual minorities, mental health and end of life care for cancer patients, and the role of religious and spiritual beliefs in mental wellbeing.