Meeting prizes
The Norman Heaps Prize
For the best verbal presentation by a non-established researcher at the Challenger biennial meeting.
The Norman Heaps prize was first awarded in 1988, and is awarded for the best oral presentation by an early-career stage non-established scientist. Norman Heaps was a shelf-sea modeller who died in 1986. He was a particularly clear speaker, with an enthusiastic, lively and entertaining way of delivering a talk.
The Cath Allen Prize
For the best poster presentation at the Challenger biennial meeting.
The Best Poster Prize was first awarded in 1988 and was renamed in the honour Cath Allen in 1991. Cath Allen was a researcher in fluid dynamics at the University of Lancaster, who died in 1991. The Challenger Society introduced the prize to combat the idea that contributing to a conference poster session is a second best alternative to delivering a paper, even though a poster needs to be at least as well thought-out as a talk.
The President's Photographic Competition
For the best Photograph on a designated theme.
The President's Prize for the best Photograph on a designated theme was introduced in 1994 (President Dr Brian McCartney)
Latest News
Potential Availability of NERC Ship Time During the 25/26 Programme Year
The NERC Marine Facilities Programme for 2025/2026 for the RRS Discovery and the RRS James Cook has been published on the Marine Facilities Planning website.
The RRS Discovery programme currently contains a 79 day alongside slot between the 2nd of November 2025 and the 19th of January 2026, which is available for science delivery if funded science projects can make use of this time. Due to the location of the vessel, the ship is most likely to be able to deliver fieldwork in the North and East Atlantic regions. Some support for science capability within the National Marine Equipment Pool is potentially available, although there is no capacity for use of autonomous vehicles or remotely operated vehicles. Any fieldwork within Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) will need the appropriate diplomatic clearance submitted to coastal states at least 6 months in advance, and to NMF with sufficient lead time for processing via the FCDO.
If interested in making use of this ship time, please contact NERC Marine Planning (marineplanning@nerc.ukri.org) ASAP to start discussions.
THE MARINE FACILITIES ADVISORY BOARD – CAN YOU HELP?
The Marine Facilities Advisory Board advises the National Oceanography Centre on marine facilities and services, including the Natural Environment Research Council’s National Marine Equipment Pool (NMEP), the British Oceanographic Data Centre and the British Ocean Sediment Core Research Facility.
NOC Association AGM 2025
NOC Association (NOCA) AGM 2025
The 14th AGM of the NOC Association will be held on Thursday 15th and Friday 16th May 2025. This free, on-line event will take place on Zoom, across two consecutive mornings, each starting at 10:00 and ending at 12:30. Although discussion topics are being finalised, we will focus on national capability (NC) science, ships, and autonomous vehicles, and how the community can engage. There will be an update on AtlantiS and on the new marine science scoping group. All are warmly welcome to join. To participate, please complete your registration here. For enquiries: Jackie Pearson, Secretary to NOCA: jfpea@noc.ac.uk