Sir Howard Dalton Early Career Microbiologist of the Year
Each year, the Microbiology Society awards prizes to members presenting work at the Society's Annual Conference or Irish Division meeting. The prize recognises and rewards excellence in science communication by a member in the early stages of their career. The Society considers you early career if you’re an undergraduate or postgraduate student, or within five years of appointment to your first position after your highest qualification earned.
From 2024, the competition will be separated into two streams: talk and poster presentations.
Each comprises two stages: the first stage takes place at the Annual Conference or relevant Irish Division meeting.
For offered talks:
- Eligible entrant presentations are judged by members of the Society’s Divisions before two finalists from each Division are chosen.
- The second stage, the finals, then takes place at the Society Showcase each year. Finalists are invited to present their research, and a judging panel decides on the winner and two runners up.
For posters:
- Eligible entrant presentations are judged by members of the Early Career Forum Executive Committee before two finalists from each Division are chosen.
- The finals then take place at the Early Career Summer Conference during which finalists will be given a chance to present their posters as flash talks.
Award criteria
Selection stage
Ahead of the Society's Annual Conference or Irish Division meeting, the competition judges will receive a list of the eligible entrants and the times of their poster,or talk presentation. Poster entrants are also identified in the abstract book for the reference of all delegates.
During the event, competition judges will assess poster and talk presentations against the following criteria:
- Scientific content and structure of presentation
- Defence of presentation
- Delivery and visual aids (talk presentations only)
- Layout (poster presentations only)
Following the event, the competition judges will collate their entrant assessments and work together to shortlist two finalists per Division for each stream.
Poster and talk finalists are notified by May if they have been selected and invited to give a presentation at the finals at our Early Career Summer Conference and Society Showcase respectively each year.
Finals
The Talk presentation final will take place at the Early Career Summer Conference each year, and each finalist will deliver a 10-minute talk presentation on their research with an additional 5 minutes for questions.
The Poster presentation final will take place at the Early Career Summer Conference each year and finalists will deliver a 5-minute flash talk presentation.
The presentation judging criteria can be found in the document below.
Sir Howard Dalton Early Career Microbiologist of the Year: Finalist judging form
The winner and two runners up from both streams are chosen and given the following awards:
1st Prize: £500
2nd Prize: £200
3rd Prize: £100
All finalists will also receive a year's free Society membership.
Previous winners:
2024:
Talk Prize Winners:
1st Prize: Daniel Weir, MRC – University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, UK
2nd Prize: Tabea Elsener, University of Oxford, UK
3rd Prize: Niamh Duggan, School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Sciences, University College Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Poster Prize Winners:
1st Prize: Afifah Tasnim, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
2nd Prize: Philippa Hall, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
3rd Prize: Emmet Campbell, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK
2023:
1st Prize: Chelsea Brown, University of Warwick, UK
2nd Prize: Anastasia Lankina, University College London, UK and Ed Deshmukh- Reeves, University of Kent, UK
2022:
1st Prize: Aisling Brady, Imperial College London, UK
2nd Prize: Ailish McCafferty, University of Leeds, UK
3rd Prize: Zihan Zhu, University of Oxford, UK
2021:
1st Prize: Emma Banks, University of Nottingham, UK
2nd Prize: Danielle Nader, Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland
3rd Prize: Mary Turley, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
2020:
1st Prize: Aisling Towell, from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
2nd Prize: Thomas O’Brien, University of Cambridge, UK
3rd Prize: Emily Warman, University of Birmingham UK
2019
1st Prize: Davis Laundon, Marine Biological Association, University of East Anglia, UK
2nd Prize: Sarah Worsley, University of East Anglia, UK
3rd Prize: Michaela Conley, University of Glasgow, UK
2018
1st Prize: Courtney Kousser, University of Birmingham, UK
2nd Prize: Rute Maria Pinto, The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, UK
3rd Prize: Stephen Dolan, University of Cambridge, UK
2017
1st Prize: Daniel Hurdiss, University of Leeds, UK
2nd Prize: Andrew O'Connor, University College Dublin, Ireland
3rd Prize: Rebecca Hall, University of York, UK
2016
1st Prize: Lindsay Broadbent, Queen's University Belfast, UK
2nd Prize: Mariya Goncheva, The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, UK
Joint 3rd Prize: Andrew Frey, University of Sheffield, UK; Ethan Morgan, University of Leeds, UK
2015
1st Prize: Joseph Kirk, University of Sheffield, UK
2nd Prize: Samantha Chui Sang Lee, National University Ireland, Ireland
3rd Prize: Christopher Miller, University of Kent, UK