Invitation for submissions for the 2026 O’Mullane Prize
This Prize Competition is open to individuals or teams associated with the provision or organisation of dental care for children in Ireland.
This award seeks to honour the efforts of those pursuing excellence in all aspects of dentistry for children. One award is presented annually to clinicians, ancillary workers, students, researchers or academics involved in the provision of dental care for children in Ireland.
The topics entered may relate to a technique, audit, case report, literature review, research topic, or service organisation, and are open to anyone with an interest in Paediatric Dentistry.
Finalists for the prize category will be selected by the ISDC Judging Panel, based on the submitted abstracts. The top five successful candidates will be informed by 3rd April 2026 and invited to present at the ISDC conference on 30th April 2026. The decision of the Judging Panel in all matters will be final.
The award will be given to the individual or team judged to have presented the best work on any topic related to the provision of dental care to children in Ireland.
- To apply, please complete the following form – Submit Application
- Please note, you will be prompted to upload your abstract as part of the form.
- Prior to submission, please read and follow the abstract format and style instructions below.
- If you are having difficulty with submission, or for any further queries, please contact the ISDC at [email protected]
Eligibility
Individuals or teams submitting for the Award must:
- Be registered to attend the ISDC conference on 30th April 2026 (conference registration fee is inclusive of annual membership fee)
- Be employed as a specialist, dentist, dental assistant, hygienist, health promoter, or healthcare professional involved in the provision of oral healthcare, or be registered as a health profession student
- Be the first author on the abstract if submitting as an individual
- Teams of up to three members may submit collectively for the award
- Any student who has not yet graduated must be supervised by a qualified dental professional in the course they are studying, and their supervisor’s contact details must be included on the submission
Abstract Submission
- All applications must be submitted by 27th March 2026.
- Applications must be submitted through the form linked above.
- Applicants must upload their abstract as part of the submission form.
- Abstracts should conform to the Abstract Style Sheet below.
- General guidelines: Use 12-point Times New Roman font.
- Do not use bold, italic or underline unless otherwise indicated.
- Heading section: This section should be bolded.
- Title: limited to 10 words and should end with a full stop.
- List authors’ names with surname first followed by initials, without periods or degrees.
- Separate authors’ names by commas, with no period after the final name.
- Place an asterisk after the presenter’s name.
- List all affiliations after the last author’s name and enclose them in parentheses.
- Abstract body: limited to 250 words.
- Body structure: Purpose, Methods, Case report/Technique, Results (if applicable), Summary, Conclusions.
- Tables and charts are not allowed.
- All decimal values (except P values) should include a leading zero, for example 0.5 mm.
- Decimal percentages should be rounded to whole numbers and written using the % symbol.
O’Mullane Prize Oral Presentation
- A total of 5 abstracts will be accepted for oral presentation in the prize category.
- The top five successful candidates will be informed by 3rd April 2026.
- Successful candidates must submit their oral PowerPoint presentation by 27th April 2026, after which changes will not be possible.
- There are no requirements regarding the number of slides.
- The presentation must remain within a strict maximum of 8 minutes. No extra time will be given.
- If a presenter runs over time, they will be stopped and will forfeit eligibility to win the award.
- The judging panel will have 2 minutes after the oral presentation to ask questions.
- Competitors will be judged on detailed criteria including abstract, originality, quality of presentation, and ability to answer questions.
- The winning presentation will be announced at the Annual Scientific Meeting and will receive a cash award and the ISDC Medal.