The Royal College of Ophthalmologists: The Fight for Sight Award

The Fight for Sight Award of £5,000 is open to young ophthalmologists and scientists working in the field of ophthalmology throughout the UK.

In 2005 Fight for Sight merged with the British Eye Research Foundation (previously the Iris Fund for the Prevention of Blindness). The original award was set up in 1990 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Iris Fund. The merged charity is now the UK’s leading charity dedicated to funding world-class research into the prevention and treatment of blindness and eye disease.

The award will be made in recognition of the completion of a significant piece of research (completed within 18 months prior to the closing date) in an area that falls within the remit of the charity. It is intended that the award will be used to further the education of the award winner by being spent on research-related activities including attendance at conferences and seminars on ophthalmology. Applicants must be under 40 on 1 January 2011.

The award is made by a committee appointed by the Education Committee of The Royal College of Ophthalmologists and by the Trustees of Fight for Sight.

In 2009 Mr Alex Shortt received the award for his work on limbal stem cell transplantation carried out at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, as part of his PhD training. Mr Rizwan Malik at the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was awarded the Fight for Sight Award in 2010 for his research into the early detection of glaucoma using the phototrophic negative response component of the flash electroretinogram.

Deadline

The application deadline for this award has now passed. The next award will be advertised in October 2011.

Applications

Application forms are available from: www.rcophth.ac.uk/education/travelawards

Applications must be accompanied by a supporting paper (published or otherwise) detailing your significant piece of research and a full curriculum vitae. Please send 5 copies of the completed form together with 5 copies of your CV and a supporting paper detailing your significant piece of research to:

Miss Susannah Grant
Education and Training Administrator
The Royal College of Ophthalmologists
17 Cornwall Terrace
London NW14QW

The application deadline for this award has now passed. The next award will be advertised in October 2011.