The BABCP conference awards aim to recognise important contributions made to the advancement of cognitive and behavioural psychotherapy, science and practice. Please read these guidelines prior to self-nomination.

You can nominate yourself for an award when you submit a poster, open paper, skills class, or your own individual symposium abstract (i.e. after a symposium has been accepted).

Who is eligible?

You are eligible for one of the awards if you are:

• A registered conference delegate at the awarding conference (day or full conference attendance)
• A member of the BABCP
• Have had a presentation/poster accepted for presentation and meet the criteria for the selected award category

Please note that only one submission per person per category for each conference is permitted. All categories are judged equally regardless of role, career level, background or other characteristics as long as criteria are met.

The first prize for each category will be free registration at the following BABCP conference and a certificate in recognition of excellence in the category.

The judging panel may also award ‘highly commended’ in each category, which would be recognised with a certificate. The BABCP will also publicise the outcome of these awards, offering a platform to share the research or practice presented more widely.

Judging panel 

The judging panel will consist of members of the National Conference Programme Advisory Group. The category descriptions will be used to rate the presentations. The Equity and Inclusion Award will be judged by representatives of the BABCP Equality & Culture Special Interest Group and the BABCP EDI Committee.

Please note: if you have won an award in the last five years, you will not be eligible to enter for that award category until a five-year period has passed (but you would be eligible for the awards in the other categories).

Award categories

Below is a list of the category titles, and the criteria by which they will be judged by the panel.

1. Best Poster  

This award recognises an exceptional standard of presentation in the form of a poster.

• Academic/scientific quality – Originality of topic/question, clear methodology, consideration of pertinent literature, relevance to the conference theme and contribution to advancing the field (e.g., addresses new challenges for research integrity and offers new insights).
• Poster quality – Overall design, colour scheme, and format (e.g., visually appealing, conveys the project data and conclusions effectively).

2. Best Clinical Case or Service Development Presentation  

This award recognises an exceptional standard of presentation that relates to a clinical case (or case series) or service development project and will be an excellent example of research conducted in the clinical setting.

• Presentation skill – Clarity of presentation within the allotted time, knowledge of the topic and related literature, mastery of relevant issues, including strengths and limitations of the ideas and methods.
• Scientific quality – Originality of topic/question, clear methodology, consideration of pertinent literature, relevance to the conference theme and contribution to advancing the field and relevance to clinical practice and service development.

3.Best Newcomer

This award recognises an exceptional standard of presentation given by a clinician/researcher presenting in an either in an open paper or a symposium session; the presenter will either be an early career researcher (<2 years post PhD/ClinPsyD qualification) or a practitioner who is new to the field of clinical research (<2 research/clinical conference presentations).

• Academic/scientific quality – Originality of topic/question, clear methodology, consideration of pertinent literature, relevance to the conference theme and contribution to advancing the field (e.g., addresses new challenges for research integrity and offers new insights).
• Presentation skill – Clarity of presentation within the allotted time, knowledge of the topic and related literature, mastery of relevant issues, including strengths and limitations of the ideas and methods.

4. Equity and Inclusion Award:

In recognition of research and/or clinical practice that demonstrates outstanding advancement of equity and inclusion in the field of CBT The BABCP values include ‘Diversity, inclusivity, and collaboration’ and the organisation states that it takes an ‘active stance against equality’. The BABCP National Conference Programme Advisory Group recognises that the conference (like most scientific outlets in the CBT world) has not always represented individuals with minoritised identities and also that the world of CBT needs to more explicitly consider issues of inclusivity and generalisability within research. Whilst all presentations should consider issues around minoritised identities, whether with respect to samples, gaps in knowledge, generalisability or discrimination, this award considers those conference presentations which specifically address gaps in knowledge, barriers in service provision and other structural discrimination in the world of CBT which relates to minoritised identities and underrepresented communities. It is hoped that over time this will increase submissions specifically working towards increasing equity and reducing structural discrimination within CBT, but also ensure that all presentations consider wider issues around equity and inclusion. This recognition award will also help the promotion of key pieces of work. The presentation has clear implications that would ensure that the accessibility and/or effectiveness of CBT is increased for individuals with identifies that are marginalised, minoritised and/or related to structural discrimination, addressing gaps in knowledge, skill or service provision around CBT. The presentation works towards the dismantling of structural discrimination or barriers. The presentation is innovative and ground-breaking in its area.

Best Scientific Talk

In addition to the above awards, there will also be an award presented for the “Best Scientific Talk”. This award is made by the National Conference Programme Advisory Group and not available for self-nomination. This award recognises an exceptional standard of presentation and scientific quality, according to the following criteria:

• Academic/scientific quality – Originality of topic/question, clear methodology, consideration of pertinent literature, relevance to the conference theme and contribution to advancing the field (e.g., addresses new challenges for research integrity and offers new insights).
• Presentation skill – Clarity of presentation within the allotted time, knowledge of the topic and related literature, mastery of relevant issues, including strengths and limitations of the ideas and methods.

Please note that early career researchers or clinicians (less than 2 years experience, i.e. eligible for the best newcomer award) are not eligible for this award.