There are several categories for presentation of scientific research at the annual National Scientific Congress (NSC). Selected presenters may be invited to make a short oral presentation of their work.
Member submissions of sufficient merit are eligible for the Gilbert Troup Prize, ASA Best Poster Prize, Trainee Best Poster Prize, and Rupert Hornabrook Prize, and be invited to make an oral presentation of their work along with a poster.
Trainee members may submit their work in any category, and are also eligible for the ASA Trainee Audit or Survey Prize. The ASA reserve the right the alter the criteria for eligibility, presentation format, adjudication panel and form of the prize when necessary to accommodate requirements of specific NSC’s (for example at Combined Scientific Meetings). Any alteration in conditions will be advertised on the Conference Registration Website.
Full details for the NSC Presentation Prize awards are available in the ASA Bylaws.
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The Gilbert Troup ASA Prize commemorates the contribution to Australian anaesthesia by Dr Gilbert Troup of Perth, Western Australia. Dr Troup was the second President of the ASA from 1939–1946. Established in 1956 and first awarded in 1957, the Registrar’s Essay Prize (later renamed the Gilbert Troup Award) is the ASA’s oldest award – only Honorary Membership existed as an honour before it.
The name was changed to the ‘Gilbert Troup ASA Prize’ in 1963, due to the pre-existence of a Gilbert Troup Prize in Western Australia. The Prize was subsequently incorporated into the NSC presentations in 2012 as a formal oral presentation.
Criteria for Eligibility
In addition to the general eligibility rules listed below:
- Applicants must be ASA members or ASA Trainee Members.
- If the presenter is an ASA Trainee Member, a full ASA member who is part of the research team must also be present at the Gilbert Troup Prize Session, but does not contribute to the presentation or subsequent question & answer session.
- A research group is eligible to submit more than one abstract for consideration for the Gilbert Troup ASA Prize, but both the first author and the presenter for each accepted abstract must be different.
The winning applicant(s) will be invited to submit the prize-winning paper to Anaesthesia and Intensive Care for assessment for publication, a certificate, medal and cash prize currently $10,000.
A second prize of $3,000 will be awarded to the runner-up.
These prizes were originally known as the Boots/ASA Young Investigator Awards and were first awarded in 1984. They were initiated through sponsorship by Boots Healthcare Australia, subsequently Boots/Portex and then Smiths Medical Australia. In 2005, the title of the award was changed to reflect the latest change in business name to ‘Smiths Medical/ASA Young Investigator Awards’. In 2015 the name of the award was amended to ASA Best Poster Prize.
Criteria for Eligibility
In addition to the general eligibility rules listed below:
- Applicants must be ASA members or ASA Trainee Members.
- The applicant must be working in the fields of anaesthesia, intensive care, or pain medicine.
- If the presenter is an ASA Trainee Member, a full ASA member who is part of the research team must also be present at the ASA Best Poster Prize Session, but does not contribute to the presentation or subsequent question & answer session.
- A research group is eligible to submit more than one abstract for consideration for the ASA Best Poster Prize, but both the first author and the presenter for each accepted abstract must be different.
The ASA awards two prizes at each NSC to the value of $5,000 and $2,000 respectively to recipients judged first and second by the adjudicating panel together with a certificate.
The Trainee Member Group (TMG) Best Poster Prize was introduced in 2011 and is only open to TMG members who present a poster at the NSC or CSC. The objective of this annual Prize is to encourage registrars to present scientific research in a clear, concise, and visually attractive manner.
Criteria for Eligibility
In addition to the general eligibility rules listed below:
- Only ASA Trainee Members are eligible for the prize.
- Inclusion for consideration of the TMG Poster Prize does not preclude the recipient also being eligible for another Prize.
The prize consists of a Certificate and complimentary registration to a future ASA NSC / CSC within the next 3 years.
The ASA Trainee Audit/Survey Poster Prize was introduced in 2019 and is only open to ASA Trainee Members who present their audit/survey activity as an e-poster and oral presentation at the NSC. These include the Scholar Role Activity undertaken by trainees as part of their fellowship training requirements. The objective of the prize is to encourage ASA trainee members to present their audit/survey activity in a clear, concise and visually attractive manner as well as benefit from receiving personal feedback form experienced adjudicators for both themselves and their colleagues.
Criteria for Eligibility
In addition to the general eligibility rules listed below:
- Only ASA Trainee Members are eligible for the prize.
The prize consists of a Certificate and complimentary registration to a future ASA NSC / CSC within the next 3 years.
Rupert Hornabrook was a pioneer of anaesthesia in Australia, devoting the bulk of his practice in the years following the Boer War to promoting the specialty. He was honorary consultant in anaesthesia to the Melbourne General Hospital for many years and published extensively on issues of safety in anaesthesia. He was an early advocate of improved cardiovascular monitoring and was influential in popularising ethyl chloride-ether as an alternative to chloroform. In 1935, Dr Hornabrook was unanimously elected to honorary membership of the ASA and this award in his name recognizes his contribution to Australasian anaesthesia.
Criteria for Eligibility
In addition to the general eligibility rules listed below:
- Applicants must be ASA members or ASA Trainee Members.
- The abstract must be based on original research on a day of surgery theme and the principal content of the research must not have previously been presented in a journal or in any format at any other major Australian or international meeting.
The prize consists of a Certificate and complimentary registration to a future ASA NSC / CSC within the next 3 years.
Applications
Submission of abstracts is only via the “Call for abstracts” portal on the NSC website. Deadline for submissions is advised on the NSC website.
A maximum of 400 words is allowed for the abstract body, and may include ONE graph and/or ONE table of direct relevance to the results. The list of authors and affiliations, ASA membership details, and ethics clearance information, do not count towards the abstract word count. Any abbreviations must be spelt out on first use. The template lists the font details for the abstract.
Formal ethics approval for the submitted work must be provided at the same time as the abstract submission.
Submitting an abstract does NOT automatically register you as a Congress delegate. Accepted presenting authors will be required to pay and register for the Congress by the end of Early Bird registration. Failure to pay will result in the abstract being withdrawn. If the presenting author is unable to attend the Congress, an alternative presenter must register and present on their behalf, or the submission will be withdrawn.
All submissions must be in English.
Criteria for eligibility
Submissions must be for original research not previously presented at a major Australian or international meeting as an oral and/or poster presentation, or previously published in a journal. Submissions found to have been previously presented will be ineligible.
Submissions must have the appropriate prospective Ethics approval and formal evidence for this approval will be requested during the application process.
Submissions to specific prize categories must meet the specific requirements for that prize, as detailed below.
Applicants can apply for more than one award, prize or grant in the same year, but can only receive one Pre-NSC award, prize or grant per year and only one NSC award, prize or grant per year with the exception of both the Trainee Member Group (TMG) best poster, and Rupert Hornabrook prize, which may be awarded in conjunction with another NSC Award.
Winners of a NSC Presentation Prize must be prepared to present their work to an ASA supported public forum eg a future NSC or State meeting, publish in a peer review journal, Australian Anaesthetist or ASA podcast.
Adjudication
Space available for presentations is limited and the Congress attracts a large number of submissions. Preference will be given to abstracts of the highest quality as judged by an adjudicating panel consisting of members of the SPARC and the local organising committees.
The quality of the abstract is rated based on the content (originality, methods, data analysis, and conclusion), the clinical relevance and the quality of the written text. Not all applications may be accepted. At the discretion of the adjudicating panel, applicants may be offered a presentation format different to that applied for.
The NSC Scientific Program Convenor and the Chair of the SPARC will appoint a panel of three members to adjudicate each prize session at the NSC. The Chair of the SPARC or their nominee will chair these sessions and may serve on the adjudicating panel if suitable.
Stories from previous ASA grant and prize winners
Learn more about previous ASA grant and prize winners.