2025 Emerging Leaders Prize
This funding call has now closed and we will not be accepting any further applications.
This year's Emerging Leaders Prize will recognise and celebrate researchers who have made significant contributions to mental health research for children and/or young people.
We are inviting applications from outstanding UK-based researchers who are making an impact in children and/or young people’s mental health research, and have demonstrated their potential to be research leaders of the future.
The prize will allow me to take my research to the next level, and build a team that will go on to tackle the biggest challenges that we face in liver disease and viral hepatitis over the next 25 years.Dr Hamish Innes
First place ELP Hepatitis winner, 2023
What is the Emerging Leaders Prize?
Each year, our Emerging Leaders Prize celebrates the achievements of researchers working on a different research theme. The prize funding provides a springboard for the winners’ careers and ensures they can continue to tackle key health challenges – both now and long into the future.
In previous years, the prize has recognised researchers working in the fields of the impacts of climate change on health, hepatitis, lupus, COVID-19, pain, antimicrobial resistance, and adolescent mental health.
The funding is flexible, meaning that the winners decide how best to use it. This could mean spending time in a lab overseas, buying a cutting-edge piece of technology for their research, or investing in their personal career development.
Who can apply?
The prize is open to anyone at a relevant career stage who is researching children and/or young people’s mental health. Applicants can include, but are not limited to, clinicians, scientists and allied health professionals.
Applicants must be UK-based researchers at eligible institutions (UK HEIs, Research Council research institutes, hospitals, GP practices and other clinics, and other independent research organisations). Applicants must hold a PhD, DPhil or UK MD (or equivalent non-UK clinical research doctorate) and be conducting their research at an eligible institution.
Applicants must have recently transitioned to an independent research position. They should demonstrate an upward trajectory across their past career and a track-record of nationally-competitive research, an ability to manage an independent research group, and have clear plans to develop into an internationally-recognised leader in the field.
What fields of research will the prize cover?
Applicants may have conducted research that is developing knowledge related to (but not limited to) the following areas:
- Aetiology of mental health outcomes in children and/or young people
- Risk and resilience factors
- Development of effective interventions or preventative strategies
Applications within a broad field of children and/or young people’s mental health research are welcomed. We particularly encourage applications from eligible researchers working in neglected areas of mental health - including eating disorders, addiction and substance use disorders, and suicide and self-harm. However, applications including research on all mental health topics in children and young people will be considered. Research on neurodevelopmental disorders must be in the context of, or co-occurring with, mental health outcomes.
Funding Available
Up to £200,000 is available for the 2025 Emerging Leaders Prize. A top prize of £100,000 will be awarded and smaller prizes of various amounts for second place and highly commended candidates.
The research in this competition is supported by a gift in will from the estate of Professor Victor Louis Menage and Mrs Johanna Alicia Menage.
Key Dates
- Deadline for submission: 12:00 Thursday 17 April 2025
- Shortlisting notification: August 2025
- Interview panel meeting: 17 September 2025
- Funding decision and feedback: September/October 2025
Expert Panel
Applications will be reviewed by an expert panel made up of core panel members with experience in assessing career development and fellowship awards, and specialist members with experience in research areas relevant to child and young people's mental health. The Panel will be chaired by a member of the Board of Trustees, Professor Ros Smyth CBE, UCL Great Ormond St Institute of Child Health.
Core Panel Members
- Professor David Dockrell, University of Edinburgh
- Professor Liz Sapey, University of Birmingham
- Professor Emily Jones, Birkbeck University of London
- Professor Michael Okorie, Brighton and Sussex Medical School
- Professor Eileen Joyce, University College London
- Professor Nishi Chaturvedi, University College London
Specialist Panel Members
- Professor Angelica Ronald, University of Surrey
- Professor Frances Rice, Cardiff University
- Professor Siobhan Hugh-Jones, University of Leeds
- Professor Ian Kelleher, University of Edinburgh
- Professor Bernadka Dubicka, University of York
- Professor Rebecca Pearson, Manchester Metropolitan University
- Professor Lina Gega, University of York
- Professor Sarah Halligan, University of Bath
- Professor Richard Rowe, University of Sheffield
- Professor Duncan Astle, University of Cambridge
Queries
The Medical Research Foundation is committed to making this application accessible to all by offering assistance where needed.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch with the Research Team if you have any questions or concerns about the application or interview processes:
Email: research@medicalresearchfoundation.org.uk
Tel: 020 4581 2402
Terms and Conditions of Award
Awards funded through this competition will follow standard Medical Research Foundation terms and conditions. The terms and conditions spell out the responsibilities of the Principal Investigator and the Lead Research Organisation. The Principal Investigator and the Lead Research Organisation are required to indicate their formal acceptance of the proposal, their acceptance of the terms and conditions of an award, and the approval of the salaries and resources sought in the application.
The Medical Research Foundation may add additional conditions to a grant award to reflect the particular circumstances and requirements of the funding, or the nature of a particular award. Acceptance of an award constitutes acceptance of both the core conditions and any additional conditions. The Medical Research Foundation reserves the right to vary these terms and conditions.