We are very pleased  to announce that we can offer a small number of Division of Psychiatry Scholarships to contribute towards fees for the MSc in Mental Health Sciences Research, the MSc in Clinical Mental Health Sciences Research or the MSc in Dementia Causes, Treatment and Research (Mental Health), beginning in 2019-20.

We aim to award these scholarships to the applicants who appear most promising as future researchers in mental health. The scholarships will be worth up to £3,000.  Part-time or flexible students entering the second year of the course are also eligible, and can apply for a further award if successful last year (amounts are likely to be smaller for part-timers). Names of award-winners will be announced on our website. To be considered for these scholarships, please apply for a Division of Psychiatry MSc if you have not done so already (the MSc Clinical Mental Health Sciences is closed, so that you are required already to be an offer holder on this course), and please also send to Mrs Chris Coup, MSc Course Administrator at c.coup@ucl.ac.uk, a 500 word statement summarising:

(a) your research achievements so far;

(b) how you envisage research being part of your future career;

(c) what topic in mental health you would like to research in future, why, and how you would approach it.

Awards will be made on the basis of these statements and your application forms for the MSc.

For continuing students entering the second year and beyond, achievements so far on the MSc can also be taken into account.

Applications need to be received by  the end of 31 August 2019. Those holding offers for the MSc Clinical Mental Health Sciences, offer holders or applicants for the MSc in Mental Health Sciences Research and the MSc Dementia Causes, Treatment and Research (Mental Health), and continuing students on any programme can be considered.

Further details of our MScs:

MSc Mental Health Sciences Research

MSc Clinical Mental Health Sciences

MSc Dementia Causes, Treatment and Research (Mental Health)

The DoP has won the UCL Big Christmas Switch Off Competition.

We have been announced as the Division with the largest proportion of staff and students pledging to switch off lights, appliances and equipment over the holidays.

Each year, a lot of lights, appliances and equipment gets left on over the holidays. And this a big financial and carbon impact. On Christmas day alone, UCL spends over £16,000 on energy.

This year we had the highest proportion of staff and students pledging to switch off over Christmas!… Find out more here: www.ucl.ac.uk/greenucl/get-involved/big-christmas-switch-off

Announcement made at the Royal College of Psychiatrists Award ceremony

Dr Michael Bloomfield is an Academic Clinical Fellow at the Medical Research Council and University College London. In 2014 he completed his PhD thesis and passed his MRCPsych examination. He published six papers. He won several awards, including the British Association of Psychopharmacology’s Junior Clinical Psychopharmacologist prize. A lecture of his was viewed over 11,000 times on YouTube. He has contributed to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme as well as a number of broadsheets on topics related to Psychiatry.

The judges said: “We were incredibly impressed by what Dr Bloomfield achieved in a year. He clearly has a bright future ahead of him and we are delighted he has chosen to specialise in Psychiatry.”

Congratulations Dr Álvaro Díez Revuelta who has been awarded the prestigious ‘Juan de la Cierva’ postdoctoral fellowship under the Spanish National Research programme. Well done Álvaro! After more than two years working at the Division of Psychiatry, next October he will change UCL for the Complutense University of Madrid, and will be placed at the Centre for Biomedical Technology, Laboratory of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience in the Spanish capital. With this new position, Álvaro will continue his research in brain activity disorganization in patients with psychosis, expanding his expertise to magnetoencephalography techniques. Álvaro will be hugely missed by the Division, but fortunately his new project will allow him to continue to collaborate with Dr Elvira Bramon, so we hope to still see him regularly in London. Álvaro, we wish you the very best of luck!

Congratulations to Professor Helen Killaspy who has been awarded an Honorary Professorship by the Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, Scotland.

I was very honoured to be nominated by the Faculty of Old Age Psychiatry for the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries’ William Farr Medal. This is awarded annually to medical practitioners who have made a significant contribution to the management of illness in elderly people. This can be in any research discipline as part of original work by those who are in mid-career. The award consists of a medal and is named after William Farr, a Fellow of the Royal Society, who stressed the importance of correct diagnosis in planning clinical treatment.

The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries was founded by Royal Charter in 1617 and the ceremonial Galen dinner took place on May 28th 2014 in the Hogwarts-esque oak paneled Great Hall (dates from 1671). Dress code was “white tie and decorations”.

I was initially daunted by the formality of the evening, which involved processing in full academic gown with the Master, Wardens and Court of Assistants, a formal presentation and a brief acceptance speech, where I spoke about our research on dementia, pain and palliative care. However, things became much more relaxed after the speeches and we were treated to a fine five-course dinner and various delights from the Society’s impressive wine cellar. Fellow guests included my husband, numerous presidents of the Royal Colleges (including our own Professor Sue Bailey – good to see a familiar face), Nobel Laureates, City Liverymen and representatives of our Faculty executive, Noel Collins – a splendid sight in his full formal white-tie – and Gianetta Rands. Old Age

I’d like to thank the Faculty executive for their nomination. The medal has not been awarded to a psychiatrist (or a woman) before (!) and it was a great opportunity to promote old age psychiatry and dementia research.