Pauline Ashley Prize 2009

The Pauline Ashley Prize aims to encourage the most promising young scientists to start or continue research in hearing and deafness.

The 2009 Prize has been awarded to Rosemary Lovett, a third year Psychology PhD student at the University of York, to enable her to travel to the Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center at the University of Washington, Seattle, to collaborate with Professor Jay Rubinstein on a project aiming to predict the ability of infants and toddlers with cochlear implants to understand speech.

 Pauline Ashley Prize 2009 awarded to York PhD student

The Prize is awarded annually to a scientist near the beginning of their career, working in deafness or a related field and enables them to gain research experience in laboratories overseas, including extended training workshops, so that knowledge gained overseas will be brought back to the UK to the benefit of the British deafness research community.

Each year, £5,000 is awarded to the best and most appropriate project proposal that includes support for a period of foreign travel and research.

The Prize supports travel and subsistence. Additional travel (for example, to a conference or to give seminars) within the destination country is also encouraged and supported.

It is a requirement of the Prize that normal, full financial support for the candidate is available prior to the award decision date and that support continues throughout the time that the candidate is away.

The selection of the Prize winner will be made by the research advisers to Deafness Research UK. 

Enquiries should be directed to:

Deafness Research UK (The Hearing Research Trust)
330-332 Gray's Inn Road
London WC1X 8EE.

Tel: 020 7833 1733
Email: research@deafnessresearch.org.uk

Pauline Ashley

The sudden death in 2003 of Lady (Pauline) Ashley of Stoke, founder of the UK's deafness research charity, Deafness Research UK (The Hearing Research Trust), shocked and saddened everyone connected with the charity. Pauline Ashley was a remarkable person and an inspiration to all who knew her. She was totally committed to improving the quality of life for hearing impaired people through research and she was convinced that the key to this lay in the talent and promise of our young scientists.

The trustees of the charity created this annual award, which reflects this commitment, in Pauline's memory.