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Dr Ragnhildur Thora Karadottir wins Lister Institute Research Prize

Congratulations to Dr Ragnhildur Thora Karadottir on winning the Lister Institute Research Prize Fellowship. Thora is based at the Wellcome Trust-MRC Stem Cell Institute and is interested in neurotransmitter signalling to oligodendrocytes and their progenitor cells, in both health and disease. She was recently selected as a scholar of the FENS-Kavli Network of Excellence.

The Lister Institute Research Prize Fellowships are one-off awards, which seek to help support and nurture future leaders of biomedical research by providing £200,000 (or equivalent euros), which may be used in any appropriate way to support the holder’s research, other than the provision or augmentation of personal salary, over a period of up to five years. The awards are aimed at younger, rather than established, researchers who might be in their early years of running their own groups and for whom receipt of the Prize would ‘make a real difference’. What it meant to me!

There are up to three competitive awards per year (occasionally four as in 2013) which are made after a written application process which culminates in an interview with members of the Institute’s Scientific Advisory Committee. The time-scale from application to commencement of award is as follows – application by early December, review through to interview in May and start of the award in October (this may be delayed if requested).  The Institute currently receives around 60 applications for the three Prizes; around 20 candidates are long-listed and up to ten interviewed.

The Prize Fellowships are intended to provide funding which will enhance or expand an on-going research activity or enable a new area to be developed and, as said above, would have a high impact for the recipient – they are not project grants! The perceived beneficial ‘impact’ of the Prize on the recipient and their career will be a key factor in the selection process.

The awards are open to any researcher, who fulfils the eligibility criteria (Prize Applications – Eligibility) working in any not-for-profit institution in the UK and Republic of Ireland (eg University, Charity-funded research institute or Research Council institution). The bulk of the research must be conducted in the UK or Republic of Ireland, but research with some overseas’ studies is acceptable, and awards are transferable between institutions. Research can be in any area of biomedical research. Applicants may be scientifically or medically trained and will have their personal salary provided from either their host institution or another source such as a Fellowship. For further information see How to Apply and also Is it for me?

Posted on 29/05/2015