Biennial - Deadline 30 November 2024

The Medal is awarded biennially by the Council of the RAI, on the recommendation of judges appointed by Council, for a body of published work which makes, as a whole, a significant contribution to research in anthropology as applied to medical problems.

Individuals may apply to be considered for the award, or may be nominated. All applications and nominations should include a short CV and a brief statement of the importance of the nominated work to the field, no more than two sides of A4 in total. Four copies of any book or other publication which forms the basis for an application or nomination should be supplied. One of these will be given to the Anthropology Library at the British Museum, and the others become the property of the judges after the competition. Submissions may be made in any language, but submissions in languages other than English must be accompanied by an adequate English summary or abstract. Candidates of all nationalities are eligible.

In reaching their decision the judges will give due attention to all material submitted. They may, but are under no obligation to, solicit further material, seek advice from others, or follow up references. Where, in the opinion of the judges, more than one candidate meets the conditions for award of the medal, preference will be given to a candidate at a relatively early stage of his/her career. While the primary consideration in awarding the medal will be the excellence of the candidate's work, the judges will, in successive rounds of the competition, attempt to establish an overall balance among the different aspects of research in anthropology as applied to medical problems.

The medal need not be awarded in any year if, in the judges' opinion, no submission meets the required standard. The judges may agree to hold over the documentation of a candidate not awarded the medal for consideration by their successors in a future round. In such cases the candidate and/or nominator(s) will be informed of the decision, and given an opportunity to submit additional material in the later round.

No individual may receive the medal on more than one occasion. The medal is the gift of the Wellcome Trust. Where the award relates to a particular book or other published material, one copy must be deposited by the author with the Governors of the Wellcome Trust in addition to those supplied to the RAI.

The deadline for receipt of applications/nominations is 30 November 2024. Submissions, together with all documentation, clearly labelled, should be sent to the Assistant Director (Administration), Royal Anthropological Institute, 50 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 5BT, to arrive by that date.

Past Recipients