The prize is awarded in honour of Prof Iain Wilkinson, Professor of Magnetic Resonance Physics at the University of Sheffield who died in 2020. Prof Wilkinson was a leading figure in UK clinical brain imaging research and a long-standing friend and associate member of the British Society of Neuroradiologists. Each year we invite submissions from undergraduate* medical students in UK Medical Schools prize.
2025 Submissions Now Open!
We are delighted to invite submissions from undergraduate* medical students in UK Medical Schools for the 2025 Prof Iain Wilkinson Essay Prize.
The title for the essay is: Neuroradiology in a world with changing climate: How can we make our specialty more sustainable?
The winner will receive a prize of £250 and the runner-up will receive £150. The winning essay will be published on the British Society of Neuroradiologists website.
When submitting your essay please note:
-The word limit is 1,500 words, excluding title, the author’s details and
references.
-Up to 20 references (in any standard style) should be included
-Please submit your essay as a Word document. We do not accept PDFs or
other formats.
-Use size 11 Arial font, with line spacing of 1.5.
Include your name, year of study and medical school at the beginning of the document.
Essays will be marked for quality of content and how the arguments proposed address the question, as well as the overall structure and the clarity of writing.
Entries may be checked for plagiarism.
Entries should be submitted to bsnracademic@gmail.com. The closing date is Sunday 28th September 5pm.
The winner will be announced at the British Society of Neuroradiologists Annual Scientific Meeting in Manchester October 2025.
*This includes medical students who have or are undertaking intercalated degrees, and graduate entry medical students registered at a UK university at the time of the entry deadline
Previous Winners
2024
The title was: "Should all neuroradiology examinations be reviewed by specialist neuroradiologists? How to manage the increasing neuroradiology reporting backlog when workload significantly outstrips the specialist reporting workforce."
Winner - Mr Aparajith Sathish Kumar – University of Dundee, 3rd year
You can read his winning essay here.
Runner Up - Miss Elizabeth Zachariah - University of Cambridge, 4th year
You can read her essay here.
2023
The topic was How can patient involvement shape neuroimaging research?
The winner was M Shihabul Hassan, a fifth year medical student at Birmingham. You can read his essay here: Hassan_2023
The runner up was Sophie Curran, a fourth year medical student at Sheffield. You can read her essay here: Curran_2023
2022 Winners
The winners for the 2022 Prof Iain Wilkinson Essay Prize addressed the question ‘Will artificial intelligence support or replace neuroradiologists 10 years from now?’
The 2022 winner is Syed Muzaffar Abbas, final year medical student at the University of Southampton. Syed receives the £250 Essay Prize. The judges were highly complimentary of Syed’s thoroughly researched and well written essay. Read it here.
The Judges also highly commended the essay by Divine Mwawasi, 2nd year medical student at St Andrew’s who receives the £150 Runner-Up prize. Read it here.
