The Bayliss-Starling Prize Lecture for Mid-Career Physiologists
This annual lecture is supported by a generous donation from the Bayliss and Starling Society. It is awarded to a mid-career physiologist to celebrate a discreet package of work that has made a significant impact on physiological understanding.
Nominations for the 2026 Bayliss-Starling Prize Lecture for Mid-Career Physiologists have now closed.
Who can be nominated?
- Mid-career physiologists between 6-15 years of the award of their research degree (MD, PhD, or equivalent)
- You can nominate another person but not yourself
What is the award?
- £750
- Lecture is delivered at a Society conference or online
- Publication in The Journal of Physiology, subject to Editorial Board agreement
How can I nominate?
Nominations are open from 1 October to 30 November
What are the selection criteria?
The Prize Lecture Award Panel base their evaluations on the overall quality of relevant contributions and achievements by nominees, in relation to the selection criteria listed below. The selection committee will consider the following aspects of nominations for this prize and nominators should include the following information:
- Which paper(s) do you want to nominate this person for? Please provide details of the full citation(s).
- What the citation count is for these papers
- A description of how this work is novel and important (150 words)
- A description of the impact of this work on physiology (150 words)
- Details of any career breaks and/or challenges that may have been overcome (150 words)
Guidelines for nominators
- Nominations open 1 October
- Nominations close 30 November
- Anyone can nominate for this prize
- Nominees may NOT nominate themselves
- The prize is open to nominees based in the UK and Internationally
- There are career stage restrictions associated with this prize: Mid-career physiologists between 6-15 years of the award of their research degree (MD, PhD, or equivalent)
- We will not consider nominations of deceased individuals
- Nominees can only be considered for one of our prizes in any given year. In a case where a nominee is nominated for more than one prize independently, it is at the discretion of the Prize Lecture Award Panel which prize they will be considered for.
- Trustees of The Physiological Society are not eligible to be nominated
- When nominating previous prize winners, please remember that a person cannot be awarded twice for substantially the same body of work
- Nominees should only be nominated once for this prize in any given prize cycle. In cases where we receive more than one nomination for the same nominee, only one nomination will go forward to the panel.
Previous winners
2013: Graham J Dockray (at IUPS)
2014: Stephen Bloom
2015: Kim Barrett
2016: Lisa Heather
2017: Helen Raybould (at IUPS)
2018: Patrick Lewis
2020: Samira Lakhal-Littleton
2022: Maria Fitzgerald
2023: Neil Herring
Information about Sir William Bayliss and Ernest Starling
Sir William Maddock Bayliss (1860–1924) and Ernest Starling (1866 –1927) were English physiologists and Fellows of the Royal Society who worked together on research at University College London. Together they discovered the first hormone ever identified – Secretin. This breakthrough opened up new fields of medical and scientific research and discovery.
The Physiological Society created the Bayliss Starling Prize Lecture as a joint memorial in 1960 and in 1979, the Bayliss and Starling Society was established, focusing on central and autonomic peptide functions. (It merged with the Physiological Society in 2014)
