Student Awards

For further details and specific deadlines for any of the awards listed, please visit the appropriate section website or contact the individual listed for the award you are interested in.

If an award is missing from this list, please contact the Section Chair. Updates added: February 12, 2012.

Programme of Certificate of Academic Excellence

Amount: Certificate.
Information: For best undergraduate, masters and doctoral thesis in each Canadian Psychology Department for each academic year.  The list of recipients is published in the Fall issue of Psynopsis and on the CPA website.
Application Procedure: Students are nominated within each department, and a committee (which should include at least one student) makes the final selection.  Students can contact Marie-Christine Pearson at the CPA Head Office for further information.
Previous Certificate Recipients: Click here to view the list of previous certificate recipients by year.

Student Awards

Section Award
Clinical

Ken Bowers Student Research Award

Amount: $750.00 and certificate.
Information: Given to the student with the most meritorious submission to the Clinical Section of the CPA Annual Convention; the student whose submission wins is invited to describe her/his work in the fall edition of the Clinical Section newsletter, The Canadian Clinical Psychologist. Please see the Clinical Section website for more information.
Application Procedure: The deadline for applications is May 1. All students whose presentations have been accepted within the Clinical Section program are invited to apply. Application forms are available on the Clinical Section website.

Clinical Section Travel Award

Amount: 3 awards (1 valued at $500.00 and 2 valued at $200.00). The three winning submissions will also have their conference abstract published in the fall edition of The Canadian Clinical Psychologist.
Information: These awards were designed to help Clinical Section students from across Canada to travel to the CPA Annual Conference.  Please see the Clinical Section website for more information
Application Procedure: The deadline for applications is May 1. All students who have posters or presentations accepted by the Clinical Section are invited to apply. Application forms are available on the Clinical Section website.

Clinical Section Student Grant

Amount: Up to $2,000, or two awards of $1,000 each, awarded to a student to help organize an extracurricular educational activity.
Information: Designed to help Clinical Section students extend their educational experience through organizing extracurricular educational activities (e.g., workshops, lectures, round tables). Please see the Clinical Section website for more information:
Application Procedure: Annual deadline is in November/December. Application forms are available on the Clinical Section website.
 
Community

Patrick O’Neill Student Presentation Award

Amount: $100.00 and certificate
Information: Given to the student with the strongest submission in the Community Psychology Section at the annual convention of the CPA. The presentation can be in any format (i.e., poster, oral presentation).
Eligibility: Applicants must be first author of a presentation and poster accepted in the Community Section at the CPA Annual Convention. Applications are invited from student members of the Community Section who are in good standing. You may join the Community Section via the CPA website.
Application Procedure: All students whose presentations have been accepted within the Community Section program are invited to apply; to be eligible you must Submit a brief (no more than 750 words) report of the project you are presenting (using APA format) and a CV.  Please submit your application directly to the Community Section Chair at Cyndi.brannen@iwk.nshealth.ca. Annual deadline is May 31.

The successful applicant will receive email confirmation of receipt of the award. The presentation of the award will take place at the Community Section Business Meeting.
Counselling

Best PhD Dissertation
Best Masters Thesis

Amount: $100.00 each.
Information:The research must have been successfully defended within 2 years prior to the annual award submission date. The person who nominates the student’s work must be a member of the Counselling Psychology Section; the student does not need to be a member.
Application Procedure: prizes are awarded based on a 10-page summary of the dissertation or thesis, to be written by the student. Formatting requirements: double-spaced, 12 point font, 1 inch margins. Tables and figures must be integrated into the document, not attached as appendices. The title page and references do not count against the page limit. A student’s work can only be nominated once for each award. The nominator should submit an electronic copy of the 10 page summary to: Dr K. Jessica Van Vliet - jvanvliet@ualberta.ca.

Best Masters Conference Poster
Best Doctoral Conference Poster

Amount: $100.00 each.
Information: Posters are evaluated for quality and relevant of content, and the student's engagement with the audience. All student-authored posters presented in the Counselling Psychology Section poster session at the CPA annual convention are evaluated for this award. Students do not need to be a member of the Counselling Psychology Section to be eligible.
Criminal Justice

Student Award for Best Conference Poster

Amount: $150.00.
Application Procedure: The award is given to the presentation judged best presented in the Criminal Justice poster session.
 
Psychologists in Education

Award for Excellence in a CPA Convention Presentation

Amount: 1-year student affiliate membership in CPA and the Section.
Application Procedure: Members of the Section Executive judge the presentations and recommend recipients of the award.
 
Environmental

Student Award for Best Conference Poster

Amount: $100.00 plus one-year membership to the Section; the text of the poster will be published in the Section’s Newsletter.
Information: The award is based on the scientific quality of the poster and impact of the findings for research in Environmental Psychology.
Application Procedure: Students who are interested should submit their abstract to Frederick Grouzet. Annual deadline is in May. 
 
Health

Ronald Melzack Health Psychology Award

Amount: $100.00.
Information: Best student paper presented at the Annual Convention in Health Psychology.
Application Procedure: Students submit their abstract to the Health Section by the regular (CPA) deadline. The top ranked submissions are nominated for the award. Members of the Executive of the Health Section attend each nominated student presentation, and reach a consensus on the award recipient. The winner is announced at the Health Section Business Meeting.  
 
History and Philosophy of Psychology

Mary J. Wright Award

Amount: $100.00.
Information: Best student paper presented at the Annual Convention (Section Programme).
Application Procedure: Students submit their abstract to the History & Philosophy of Psychology Section of CPA by the regular (CPA) deadline, and if accepted, present their paper at the Annual Convention.  Members of the Executive of the History & Philosophy of Psychology Section attend each student paper presentation, and reach a consensus on the award recipient.  The winner is announced at the Section Business Meeting. 
 
Industrial/Organizational

RHR Kendall Award

Amount: $500.00.
Information: Best student paper.
Application Procedure: Students should submit their paper and provide a letter (email acceptable) from a faculty member certifying that the paper was written by a student. See specific guidelines at the section website. Annual deadline is in April. Send submissions to Dr. Steve Harvey. The winner is announced at the Section Business Meeting. 
 
International and Cross-Cultural

John Berry Prize for Best Oral Presentation

Amount: A book.
Application Procedure: Those students who are accepted to and present at the Annual Convention are eligible.

Francis Aboud Prize for Best Poster

Amount: A book.
Application Procedure: Those students who are accepted to and present at the Annual Convention are eligible. 
 
Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic

Freud Student Award

Amount: A certificate.
Information: Best paper or poster presentation given at the Annual Convention for this Section.
Application Procedure: Those students who are accepted to and present at the Annual Convention are eligible.
 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues

Henry Minton Award for Excellence in Research

Amount: $100.00.
Information: Best student symposium presentation.
Application Procedure: Presentations are evaluated at the time of the Annual Convention.

Student Award for Excellence in Research

Amount: $50.00.
Information: Best student poster presentation.
Application Procedure: Posters evaluated at the time of the Annual Convention.
 
Social and Personality

B.G. Rule Award

Information: Best graduate student abstract submitted to the Annual Convention.
Application Procedure: Grad students who submit first-authored abstracts to the Convention will be asked to submit a letter indicating they would like to be considered for the award, along with a longer abstract (400 words). Winners will present their research during a special oral paper section during the Annual Convention.

Ken Dion Award

Information: Best undergraduate research submission to the Annual Convention.
Application Procedure: Undergraduate students who submit first-authored abstracts to the Convention will be asked to submit a letter indicating they would like to be considered for the award, along with a longer abstract (400 words). Winners will present their research during a special oral paper section during the Annual Convention. 
 
Sport and Exercise

Top Student Abstract Award

Amount: $100.00 and certificate.
Information: Given to the student with the strongest submission at the annual convention of the CPA.
Eligibility: Applicants must be a student member of the section at the time of submission, must be the primary author of the research and must attend the convention and present paper / poster to receive award.
 
Women and Psychology

Student Paper Award

Amount: $500.00.
Application Procedure: Student submits a 3-page summary of their paper or poster that has been accepted for the CPA Conference or Section pre-conference (April or May). 

Travel Award (5 available/year)

Amount: $200.00 each.