The clinical oncology undergraduate essay prize

Applications will open on Monday 5 January 2026.

Applications are open!

Deadline is 5pm, Monday 2 March 2026

How to apply

Applications should be sent by email to [email protected] no later than 5 pm on Monday, 2 March 2026.

The Royal College of Radiologists' clinical oncology undergraduate committee will consider applications and decide on the winning research paper. Their decision is final and binding.

The winners will be announced on Saturday, 9 May 2026, during the Oncology Careers Day virtual event.

Applications should comprise

An indication of which prize the application is for.
The student's full name, permanent address, and medical school.
The essay, which should not exceed 4000 words including references and tables. Please note only the first 4000 words will be assessed.
A supporting statement from a Fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists, a medical school lead, or consultant project lead, who is aware of the student's work, confirming the essay, is the original work of the applicant.

Assessment Criteria

Background information/research
Relevance of subject matter (a focus on radiotherapy will be highly valued)
Essay structure and presentation
Quality of report
Conclusion

Enquiries should be directed to [email protected]

This presentation was developed independently and the information provided in this video does not represent RCR guidance or endorsement.

Previous recipients of the clinical oncology research and essay prizes

Clinical Oncology Undergraduate Research Prize recipients

Year	Recipient	University	Title
2022	Thomas Doggett	University of Liverpool	Targeting the DNA damage response to enhance the efficacy of radiotherapy in head and neck cancer
2021	Not awarded
2020	Jonathan Wan	University of Cambridge	Cancer detection using circulating tumour DNA from dried blood spots
2019	Thomas Lewis	University of Manchester	Palliative Lung Radiotherapy; a Retrospective Analysis at a Large Single Centre
2018	Emily Robinson	Brighton and Sussex Medical School	Patient satisfaction with breast-conserving surgery: Retrospective study of patient-reported outcomes using BREAST-Q
2015	Alfred So	University of Manchester Medical School	An audit to evaluate and compare concurrent versus sequential chemoradiation in stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at the Royal Preston Hospital

Clinical Oncology Undergraduate Essay Prize recipients

Year	Recipient	University	Title
2022	Srinand Sundaram	University of Cambridge	Defining the role of radiotherapy in the treatment of oligometastatic cancer
2021	Patrick McAleavey	Queen's University Belfast	Radiotherapy-drug combinations in the treatment of glioblastoma multiformed: A brief review
2020	Katherine Gallagher	University of Leeds	Minimising therapeutic side-effects from chemoradiotherapy in HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cells carcinoma
2019	Hiren Dusara	Kings College London	The Role of Cannabinoids in Cancer: Perspectives Beyond Pain and Palliative Care
2018	Shalin Abraham	University of Cambridge	Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy in the treatment of metastatic neuroendocrine tumours: is this the magic bullet we have been waiting for?

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