Dr Abigail Fiske from the Faculty of Science and Technology, has received the ‘Award for Outstanding Doctoral Research Contributions to Psychology 2024’, from The British Psychological Society (BPS).

The award recognises outstanding contributions to psychological knowledge by postgraduate research students whilst carrying out research for their doctoral degrees in psychology.

Abigail joined Lancaster in September 2024 in the Infant and Child Development Lab following the completion of her PhD at the University of Oxford. Her research had looked at understanding how children develop executive functions in early years, particularly inhibitory control (ability to think before reacting). Her PhD carried on during the global pandemic and she was fortunate enough to be able to keep in touch with the same group of children involved in her research during the first, second and fourth years of their lives. 

On receiving the BPS award Abigail said: “I'm honoured and delighted to receive this award! It is certainly not easy to complete a PhD during a pandemic, let alone a longitudinal study with infants and young children, so I am incredibly pleased that my research has been recognised with this award."

In addition to the award from the BPS, Abigail’s PhD research has also been recognised as outstanding by the International Congress of Infant Studies (ICIS) in 2024 and by the British Neuroscience Association (BNA) in 2023 for its credibility in neuroscience.  

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The BPS champion psychology, psychologists and the wider psychological professions, supporting it’s members through every stage of their careers.