The Institute runs an annual essay prize to celebrate and promote the work of psychiatry trainees nationwide. We are now accepting entries for our 2021 competition.

Named after psychiatrist Duncan Macmillan who helped pioneer a community-centred approach to mental health, the competition is held in partnership with The Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Entrants must submit a 1,000 word essay on the theme of "The next big thing in psychiatry research".

First prize in the competition is a £500 and second place prize is £250, both will be awarded as contributions to research-based expenses.

The closing date for submissions is 9.00am on Monday 1st November 2021. All entries should be emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Read last year's winning entries here.

Competition rules

1. Competition entry criteria is limited to registered trainee doctors in psychiatry in the UK.
2. The winner and runner up of the essay competition will be determined by a panel chaired by the Institute’s Director, Professor Martin Orrell and other senior members of the Institute, along with representatives nominated by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. This panel may seek such advice as it deems appropriate in reaching this determination. Decisions made by the panel will be final.
3. Each essay must be no longer than 1000 words and be submitted electronically by the advertised submission date.
4. Essay materials published elsewhere will not be eligible for this prize.
5. A £500 first place prize, £250 runner up prize are both available to be claimed as research-related expenses by 31st March 2022.