2009 Gold Medal Award was presented to Dr Thelma Craig, Belfast.

The deadline for submissions for 2010 is Monday 30th August.

The Research Committee wish to promote and encourage the presentation of the best critical care science in the UK at our national scientific meetings. Young (or new in their career) investigators with limited budgets have to make difficult decisions about where to present their work. With many international meetings, new and original work at the forefront of UK intensive care research is not being made available to a national audience. To increase interest, awareness and debate, the Society actively fosters our future scientists, recognises and applauds what is currently being achieved.

The Intensive Care Society Research Gold Medal is awarded annually to a new investigator who has shown excellence in science relevant to intensive care practice so that their work is more widely appreciated.

The award process also allows a number of finalists to achieve recognition through formal presentation at a national meeting in front of their peers. The award is presented annually at the winter State of the Art Meeting

The award is open to all young (or new) investigators involved in Critical Care research in the UK up to and including Consultants or equivalent within 2 years of appointment. They must be proposed by an ICS member. They must have done a reasonable body of work that would usually have either been presented at this or other equivalent scientific meetings, published in abstract form or published as full papers. A single study addressing a limited question, unless supported by the applicants own pilot or developmental work, would not on its own represent a “body of work”. The applicant should normally have completed the equivalent of one year’s full time research (for example work contributing to a higher degree).

Applicants are invited to present a “body of work” by producing a concise fully referenced summary to a maximum of 1000 words (excluding references). Up to two figures or tables may be included. State your contribution to this work and over what period it has been undertaken. Outline the original hypothesis and background, the questions you have addressed and the methods your have used. Discuss your results and the conclusions drawn and explain how this has advanced our understanding of this area and its relevance to intensive care. For format please follow the general principles given for research abstracts available on our web site (although of course this will be longer).

The finalists’ 1000 word summaries will be published in JICS following approval of the author. In exceptional circumstances authors may submit a modified version for publication in JICS if the inclusion of some data might preclude later publication in a scientific journal.

The finalists will be selected by a panel of judges drawn from the Research Committee. They will review the summaries using similar criteria as for abstracts or research. They will look for a clear and logical description of the work and its outcome.
• Originality & relevance to intensive care.
• The background and hypothesis for the work.
• Quality of study design/methods that have been used and how this evolved as the work progressed.
• A summary presentation of results that are used to support a discussion and critical appraisal of the work.
• Appropriate use of statistical analysis including mention of any weaknesses.
• Conclusions that reflect the outcome of the research and its impact on the care of the critically ill. 
Finalists will be informed by Friday 24th September 2010.

Finalists will present a 20 minute lecture with 10 minutes for discussion which will be available in the Research Forum at the ICS State of  the Art Winter meeting 2010. Judging will be performed by a team of Chairpersons using standard criteria. Excellence will be recognised through the quality, originality and relevance of the work combined with excellence in presentation skills.
The following five point criteria will be used to judge the 30 minute presentation and questions.

• Spoken presentation that is clear, with a good argument that leads from aims to conclusions in a logical manner.
• Plan of work that has an evidence supported hypothesis/rationale, sound design and appropriate use of methods and that is both original and has relevance to intensive care.
• Accurate and sound presentation of results & conclusions with appropriate use of figures and statistics that can be justified and resolutely defended.
• Discussion arising from questions answered clearly & constructively without evasion. Clear ideas on where these findings lead and implications for future research or practice.
• Excellence in use of audiovisuals that enhances and does not distract from the findings

All finalists are also encouraged to present research posters on the day and are still eligible to compete for the Society’s oral or poster presentation prizes. All finalists will be given free meeting registration costs, plus up to £200 towards travel and accommodation based upon receipts. All finalists will be invited to the Speakers' Dinner and receive recognition.
The award winner will hold the title for one year of “Intensive Care Society Research Gold Medal Holder”, and be presented with a certificate embossed with a gold emblem.

PLEASE SEND YOUR APPLICATION TO GEMMA PARSONS EITHER VIA EMAIL:  gemma@is.ac.uk OR POST TO: THE INTENSIVE CARE SOCIETY CHURCHILL HOUSE, 35 RED LION SQUARE LONDON.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT TEL:  +44 (0)20 7280 4350