The Brenda Milner Best Paper Prize by a PhD or MPhil Student in the Cambridge Department of Psychology

1. Purpose of the Prize

• To recognise outstanding research in the field of psychology, behavioural and cognitive neuroscience or related disciplines by a PhD or MPhil student in the Department of Psychology.
• To honour the extraordinary contributions to psychology and cognitive neuroscience of Professor Brenda Milner, who was an undergraduate student in the department and at Newnham College.

2. Eligibility

• Open to PhD and MPhil students with a current primary affiliation with the Department of Psychology or within the past 12 months of the start of each academic year. 
• Submissions must be original research papers that are part of the student’s PhD or MPhil work, published or in press in a peer review journal. Preprints are not eligible. 
• The student's affiliation listed on the paper must be the Department of Psychology. 
• The paper should describe empirical research. Reviews and Commentaries are not eligible.
• The student must be a first author on the paper and must have made significant contributions to all aspects of the paper.
• The paper must have been published or accepted for publication during the PhD/MPhil in the Department of Psychology, or within 12 months of leaving the department.
• The research must have been carried out while the student was enrolled in the Department of Psychology.
• A paper may only be nominated once, but more than one paper by the same student may be nominated. 

3. Criteria

• The paper should present novel hypotheses, methodologies and findings that contribute to the field of psychology or behavioural and cognitive neuroscience.
• The research methodology must be robust, including appropriate experimental design, analysis and interpretation. This includes clear experimental protocols, use of relevant statistical techniques and reproducibility of results.
• The paper must be well-structured, logically organised and clearly written.
• The paper should present research with the potential to influence theory, practice or future research in psychology and cognitive neuroscience.
• Open science practises, such as making data and codes open access, are strongly encouraged.

4. Judging panel

• The panel will consist of the Chair of the Research Strategy Committee plus two members of the Research Strategy Committee (on a two-year rolling basis).

5. Award

• The winner will receive a prize of £500 and a certificate.

6. Announcement of the winner

• The winner will be announced at the annual Christmas party.
• The winner will be notified in advance.

7. Submission process

• The submission deadline is 10th September every year. The award decision will be made in November. 
• Nominations can be made by the student, the student’s supervisor or a faculty member in the department.
• Submissions should include the full paper (the manuscript pdf in journal format) and a brief nomination (no more than 250 words) in a separate document that outlines the paper’s significance, contribution and potential impact.
• These two documents (paper plus nomination) should be attached to an email and sent to hodsecretary@psychol.cam.ac.uk. Please use the name of the prize as the email subject.

8. Winners of the prize

Dr Rakoen Maertens has been awarded the Brenda Milner Prize 2025 for best his outstanding research publication:
Maertens, R., Roozenbeek, J., Simons, J.S., Lewandowsky, S., Maturo, V., Goldberg, B., Xu, R., van der Linden, S. Psychological booster shots targeting memory increase long-term resistance against misinformation. Published in Nature Communications in 2025.

This award celebrates excellence in original, innovative and impactful published work in the field of psychology and cognitive science.