Department Awards

Awards Administered or Adjudicated by the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto

The Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto administers or adjudicates close to 50 awards annually. Some awards have existed for over 30 years while others have been created recently. To ensure fairness and equity, in October of 2020 the following rules and guidelines were created by the Executive Committee of the Department in consultation with the Senior Advisory Committee.  Modifications to the rules and guidelines will be made as needed.

The deadline to submit an application or nomination for most awards is April 18, 2024, at 11:59 pm. Most awards have the same application deadline, but there are a few that follow independent schedules. If you’re interested in applying for an award, make sure to review the application process and deadlines, found on the Department awards section of the website.

View awards for faculty - View awards for learners

See the 2022-2023 award winners

See the 2021-2022 award winners

See the 2020-2021 award winners

Types of Awards

1.    Philanthropic Awards – These awards are supported by donations and administered and adjudicated according to the award criteria established in the official donor’s agreement associated with the award. They are typically named after individuals and honour the legacy of their namesakes in addition to celebrating the accomplishments of their recipients.

Some philanthropic awards are funded by an endowment and will continue to exist in perpetuity; some philanthropic awards are funded by expendable funds and will continue until all the given funds have been expanded (typically five to ten years). There are no limits in the number or the scope of these awards. 

2.    Departmental Awards – The goal of these awards supported by Departmental operating funds to recognize the accomplishment of Divisions and Programs that do not have philantropic funds. Departmental Awards can be created in order to establish and fund an award until funds have been raised. A Program or Division can choose to have only one award or no awards. No more than two will be supported for each Division or Program. Named departmental awards funded with operating funds of the Department of Psychiatry should become funded by a philanthropic gift. Going forward, the Department will not create new named awards unless they are already supported by a philanthropic gift (endowed or expendable). 

3.    Other Awards – Based on historical reasons and tradition, the Department of Psychiatry administers and adjudicates a small number of awards created by the Temerty Faculty of Medicine or by affiliated hospitals. 

Award Rules and Guidelines

To give all eligible candidates an opportunity to apply, the competition for awards will be publicly announced in PsychNews at least four weeks before the deadline for application/nomination. In fairness to all, submissions received after the announced application/nomination deadline will not be considered. If no submissions are received by the deadline, no winner will be selected for that year.

All awards are adjudicated by a committee chaired by a designated member of the Senior Advisory Committee of the Department of Psychiatry (SAC) and at least two other members. Adjudication Committees will select one winner. If not all committee members agree, the decision will be based on a vote.

The winner for an award must meet eligibility criteria for that award, both in terms of eligibility and accomplishment. Adjudication Committees will only review candidates who are eligible.

Unless an award specifies that multiple winners (or a team) can be selected, there can be only one winner each year. Most awards are designed for an individual. In the event of an initial tie or split vote, the adjudication committee will either select one winner or no winner will be declared for that year. Some awards can be given to projects, initiatives, or courses, which may be the work of a team of individuals. In those cases, the members of the team can be designated as collectively having received the award. However, only one project, initiative, or course may win these awards and the team will select one team member who will receive the monetary award. 

Awards do not have to be awarded every year. If there are no submissions or the candidates do not meet the standard of excellence required for an award, it will not be given that year.

If there is only one nominee when the nomination deadline is reached, adjudicators will consider if that nominee meets the standard of excellence for the award. If he or she did not, they may choose not to select one winner for that particular year.

Awards cannot be won more than once per lifetime. Prior winners of an award will not be considered for that award again. Winners of Departmental awards are encouraged to apply for University, national, or international awards, and will receive the support and assistance of the Department if they wish to do so.