The Early Professional Award is awarded by BOU Council for an outstanding initial contribution to the field of ornithology.

Nominations are now open, with a nomination deadline of 15 September 2026.

Make a nomination for the Early Professional Award

Criteria

Nominees should be within 10 years of their last degree, calculated from the date of graduation until the nomination deadline and discounting career breaks and/or extended periods of absence^*. The outstanding initial contribution should be in one or more of the following categories:

I. Ornithological research

• Research outputs (could include timely practical application of science to real-world issues, e.g. conservation, disease control/epidemiology, evidence-based policy, human wellbeing)
• Fieldwork
• Data collection/analysis
• Reviewing and editing
• Scientific conference presentations

II. Community activities

• Practical contribution to the research community (e.g. scientific monitoring, management/curation of open-access datasets or github repositories)
• Contribution to the organisation of conferences
• Involvement with one or more community societies/organisations
• Perpetuating and supporting networks / communities / Equity, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives

III. Capacity building and mentorship

• Supervision (academic and pastoral, official and unofficial)
• Teaching (informal and formal)
• Training in practical techniques / provision of shadowing program opportunities
• Establishing and fostering networks / communities / Equity, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives

IV. Science communication and engagement

• Promoting the science of ornithology outside traditional professional ornithological settings to the wider ornithological community. This could include:

• • Use of social platforms to communicate their own or others’ research
  • Non-academic writing, e.g. blogs
  • Communicating their own or others’ research to non-academic ornithology audiences, e.g. bird clubs

This award is open to BOU members and non-members.

The award

Recipients receive a framed silkscreen print of Zosia Frankowska’s Giant Ibis (shown above), presented at a BOU or other agreed conference, and an award citation will be published in IBIS. The artwork prize was selected through an open competition in 2023 for establishing and amateur artists.

Read more about the art competition

Award frequency

Nominations are sought annually, though the prize may not be awarded annually if suitable nominations are not received.

Previous recipients

2026 Andrea Flack Read IBIS citation

2025 Oliver Padget Read IBIS citation
2024 Wouter M.G. Vansteelant Read IBIS citation

^* Career breaks and/or extended periods of absence include parental leave, ill health (defined as more than four weeks off work), caring/domestic responsibilities, civic responsibilities (e.g. jury service, national service), bereavement and part time working. Under such circumstances, an additional amount of time equivalent to 100% of the duration of leave taken, up to a maximum of 6 months per period, is added on top of official time taken off work.

Worked example:
An EPA nominee took 12 months parental leave. When considering the number of months following their last degree, the BOU will deduct the 12 months leave plus an additional 6 months (18 months in total). If 120 months have passed since the nominee completed their last degree, the BOU would deduct the 18 months from the 120 months to calculate the nominee’s relevant months of experience. This makes 102 months of experience and therefore makes the nominee eligible for the EPA award (within 10 years or 120 months since their last degree).

This approach follows that taken by The Royal Society for their Career Development Fellowships and University Research Fellowships.