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Awards & Scholarships

If you wish to be considered for an award, please indicate this when submitting your abstract.

HGSA New Investigator Award (NIA)

The HGSA offers a new investigator award (the award prize is $500) to students or individuals who have been a researcher for <10 years. The award is announced at the conclusion of the ASM.

All eligible applicants must:

  1. Have been a member of the HGSA for at least one year.
  2. Have had their abstract selected for an oral presentation
  3. Present original work carried out during or within 5 years or completion of, the applicants research training (up to and including PhD studies or equivalent). The applicant’s eligibility should be verified by their Supervisor or Head of Department (a letter must be provided and emailed to conference@aacb.asn.au and received by 30 June 2025).
  4. Nominate that they wish to be considered for the award when submitting their abstract/s and provide supporting documentation (as in 3).

Previous winners are ineligible. The age of the applicant will not determine eligibility.

Australasian Association of Clinical Geneticists (AACG) Trainee Awards

The Nigel Clarke Memorial Education Bursary

Nigel Clarke (1966-2015) was outstanding both as a clinical geneticist and a scientist, taken too early from our community at the peak of his career by glioblastoma.  Nigel’s research led to the discovery and characterisation of a plethora of muscle disease-causing genes.

In recognition of the importance and the cost of education, the AACG offers an annual bursary worth $2,000, open to all trainees who are financial members of the HGSA and AACG. While the bursary may be used for any educative experience, applications which have the capacity to benefit the Association as a whole will be looked upon favourably. 

Applications to the bursary will open each year at the March AACG annual meeting and will remain open until 30th June that same year. The successful applicant will be announced at the AACG Annual General Meeting.

More information can be found here.

AACG Trainee prizes

Each year the AACG offers three cash prizes for the top three presentations at the HGSA Annual Scientific Meeting. Trainees must be current financial HGSA and AACG members.  The executive reserve the right not to award prizes should there be insufficient quality presentations. Presentations must be in the main conference program (i.e, abstracts submitted to and accepted by the Scientific Program Committee for the ASM, not SIG satellite day presentations).

  • Prizes judged on merit, regardless of format (oral or poster presentation) 
  • Nigel Clarke Bursary winner will be excluded from prizes
  • First prize, $800
  • Second & third prizes, $400 each

Australasian Society of Genetic Counsellors (ASGC) Award

The ASGC are awarding three prizes for oral and poster presentations as well as travel grants to the 2025 ASM. These are open to ASGC members only. Prizes will be awarded for the Best Oral Presentation, the Best Poster Presentation and Best Student Presentation (oral or poster).

Recipients of awards in the previous year will not be eligible for the current awards. Students will need to confirm they are bona fide students and may need to provide appropriate documentation to this effect. Only current full financial members of the ASGC are eligible for the Best Oral and Best Poster awards. Only student financial members of the ASGC are eligible for the Best Student award.

If there is no winner in a particular category, that award money will not be granted or allocated to another category.

The criteria for assessment for the awards include:

  • Originality of work
  • Clarity of presentation
  • Relevance of work to genetic counselling profession
  • Significance of the work to genetic counselling practice

Australasian Society of Diagnostic Genomics (ASDG) - Karen Snow-Bailey Award

This award is named in honour of Karen Snow Bailey (1961 – 2006) in recognition of her significant and lasting contribution to diagnostic genetic services in Australasia. The Karen Snow Bailey Award is for the best oral presentation with a focus on diagnostic genomics within the programme at the Annual HGSA Scientific Meeting, inclusive of the ASDG SIG day.

Candidates for this award must have performed a major component of the work presented which can have a diagnostic and/or research focus. In addition candidates must also be current members of the ASDG and the HGSA.

  • The value of this award is currently $1500AUD that is to be used for continuing education.
  •  Approval must be obtained from the ASDG executive for the intended use of the award and all receipts submitted for reimbursement.
  • The SIG reserves the right to not present this award if the candidates do not meet the expected minimum standard.
  • The award must be used within ONE calendar year of it being awarded. 
  • The successful candidate is invited to submit a short conference report detailing what to funding was used for to the ASDG exec.
  • Successful recipients of the award will not be eligible to reapply for this award within 5 years of receipt.

ASDG Poster Prize

The ASDG Poster prize is open to all members of the ASDG that are presenting a poster at the HGSA annual conference. Candidates for this award must have performed a major component of the work presented which can have a diagnostic and/or research focus. In addition candidates must also be current members of the ASDG and the HGSA.

Candidates will be expected to give a short 2minute presentation and/or be available to answer questions to be eligible for the award. The recipient of this award will receive full registration for the next ASDG ISM. 

  • The SIG reserves the right to not present this award if the candidates do not meet the expected minimum standard.
  • Successful recipients of the award will not be eligible to reapply for this award within 5 years of receipt.

The Education, Ethics & Social Issues (EESIC) Award

The EESIC award celebrates the best abstract relevant to education, ethical, legal or social issues. It comprises free registration to the HGSA AGM the following year. All abstracts that submitters nominate as fitting the EESIC category will be assessed by selected members of the EESIC committee. Abstracts will be scored as per the rubric used by the SPC and each abstract will be reviewed by at least two EESIC members. The scores will be averaged and the top scoring abstract will receive the EESIC award. In the event that two abstracts are tied for the top rank, a third review of each abstract will be obtained.

Individuals can only receive the EESIC award once: previous awardees are not eligible. EESIC members reviewing abstracts must declare a conflict of interest if they are listed as an author on an abstract.

RCPA Trainee Prize

This is a prize for those currently training with the RCPA in genetics. This can be either clinical FRCPA or Faculty of Science FFSc. The winner must be a member of the ASDG and HGSA. The maximum prize value is $1500. This prize is for oral presentations, so long as there are at least two oral abstracts. The prize will be redirected to poster abstract submissions if there are insufficient orals.

Prize kindly donated by GenomicPak. 

 

Conference Secretariat

AACB Services Pty Ltd
PO Box 7336, Alexandria NSW 2015
P: (61) 2 9660 6600       E: conference@aacb.asn.au