Ole-Jørgen Skog Award

The Kettil Bruun Society is an international and multidisciplinary society, aiming to promote social and epidemiological research which fosters comparative understanding of the social aspects of alcohol problems in different countries and across different sub-populations.

The purpose of the Ole-Jørgen Skog Award for Early Career Scientist is to recognize the excellence of the papers presented by early career scientists at the KBS Annual Symposium held each year in early June. The award is a cash prize of 250 Euros, two years membership of the Kettil Bruun Society, and a certificate.

The best paper presented by an early career scientist (no more than 5 years in alcohol research) will be selected by a scientific committee, based on its contribution to advancing knowledge in alcohol research and on its theoretical and methodological quality.

The winner will be announced and the award presented at the Social Dinner on the Thursday evening of the meeting.

Please read the eligibility and evaluation criteria, below, and ensure that you submit your paper along with the application form. Late submissions will be ineligible.

Eligibility

To be considered for the award, applicants must:

  • be students studying for their masters or doctoral degree (still with no more than 5 years in alcohol research) OR early career scientists whose postgraduate degree was awarded within the last two years OR early career scientists without a postgraduate degree with less than 5 years in alcohol research;
  • be presenting a paper as the first author;
  • provide a statement describing the contributions of each author on the front page of the paper; and
  • submit the paper and application form by the due date.

Evaluation criteria

Approximately equal weight will be given to each of the three criteria. Please note the descriptors under each heading.

1.  Significance and innovation

  • addresses an issue relevant to “social, epidemiological, and cross-cultural research on alcohol use”
  • reports findings that contribute to the research discipline and/or will improve public policy, health promotion, or clinical practice
  • will probably result in an influential publication

2.  Scientific merit

  • the rationale for the study is well developed
  • objectives are clearly defined and coherent
  • methods are appropriate
  • analyses are well executed
  • results are interpreted appropriately

3.  Quality of presentation

  • paper is well structured and within the page limits (16 single spaced including tables, figures and references).
  • abstract accurately and succinctly describes the study in <300 words
  • introduction covers the relevant literature and presents a rationale for the study
  • tables and figures are clear and informative and do not overlap with the text
  • discussion provides a brief summary of the main findings, a complete and balanced account of the limitations and strengths of the study, and comparison with other relevant studies

 

Previous winners

KBS 48th, Johannesburg, South Africa, 5 – 9 June 2023:

Gabriela López from Brown University, United States.

(paper: Gabriela López, Holly K. Boyle, Michelle Haikalis, Mary Beth Miller, Kristina M. Jackson, Kate B. Carey, & Jennifer E. Merrill : Sexual assault history moderates the day-level association between simultanous alcohol and cannabis use and sexual experiences)

KBS 47th, Warsaw, Poland, 30 May – 3 June 2022:

Gabriel Caluzzi from La Trobe University, Australia.

(paper: Gabriel Caluzzi, Laura Fenton, & Jukka Törrönen : Examining the intersections of communications technologies and drinking practices: a cross-national qualitative analysis)

KBS 46th, Helsinki, Finland, 31 May – 3 June 2021:

Naomi Gibbs from the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom.

(paper: Naomi Gibbs, Colin Angus, Simon Dixon, Charles Parry, Petra Meier, Micheal Boachie, & Stephane Verguet : An Extended Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Minimum Unit Pricing of Alcohol in South Africa)

KBS 45th-bis, Warsaw, Poland, June 2020:

Jennifer Boyd from the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom.

(paper: Jennifer Boyd, Olivia Sexton, Colin Angus, Petra Meier, Robin Purshouse, & John Holmes : What are the causal mechanisms used by researchers to explain the Alcohol Harm Paradox? A systematic review)

KBS 45th, Utrecht, Netherlands, 3-7 June 2019:

Pek Kei Im from the Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.

(paper: Pek Kei Im, Iona Y Millwood, Christiana Kartsonaki, Iain Turnbull, Yiping Chen, Yu Guo, Huaidong Du, Zheng Bian, Yunlong Tan, Canqing Yu, Jun Lv, Liming Li, Ling Yang, & Zhengming Chen: Alcohol drinking and risk of liver diseases: findings from the China Kadoorie Biobank)

KBS 44th, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 28 May – 1 June 2018:

Pamela Trangenstein from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, United States.

(paper: Pamela Trangenstein, Raimee Eck, Naomi Greene, & David Jernigan: Generating local estimates of the burden of alcohol using administrative data)

KBS 43rd, Sheffield, United Kingdom, 5-9 June 2017:

Inge Kersbergen from the University of Liverpool and UK Centre for Tobacco & Alcohol Studies, United Kingdom.

(paper: Inge Kersbergen, Melissa Oldham, Andrew Jones, Matt Field, & Eric Robinson: Reducing the standard serving size of alcoholic beverages decreases alcohol consumption)

KBS 42nd, Stockholm, Sweden, 30 May – 3 June 2016:

Aveek Bhattacharya from the Institute of Alcohol Studies, London, United Kingdom.

(paper: Aveek Bhattacharya, Colin Angus, & Robert Pryce: How dependent is the alcohol industry in England on heavy drinking and how has this changed over time?)

KBS 41st, Munich, Germany, 1-5 June 2015:

Jonas Raninen from Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs, Stockholm, Sweden.

(paper: Jonas Raninen, Mats Ramstedt, & Michael Livingston: To drink or not to drink – a study on the association between rates of non-drinkers and per drinker mean alcohol consumption in a population)

KBS 40th, Torino, Italy, 9-13 June 2014:

Daniel Moyo from University of Sheffield, Sheffiield, UK.

(paper: Daniel Moyo, Robin Purshouse, Abdallah Ally, Alan Brennan, & Paul Norman: Individual-level computational modelling to predict population-level alcohol consumption trends in England)

KBS 39th, Kampala, Uganda, 3-6 June 2013:

Sebenzile Nkosi from Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa.

(paper: Sebenzile Nkosi, Eileen Rich, & Neo Keitumetse Morojele: Alcohol use, sexual relationship power, and unprotected sex among bar patrons in bars and taverns in rural areas of North West province, South Africa)

Daniel Hill-McManus from the University of Sheffield, UK.

(paper: Daniel Hill-Mcmanus, Yang Meng, Alan Brennan, & Petra Meier: Estimating price elasticities for alcohol from survey data: the impact of the observation interval)

KBS 38th, Stavanger, Norway, 4-8 June 2012:

Linda Ng Fat from University college, London, UK.

(paper: Linda Ng Fat : Poor health and non-drinking at different stages of the life course; the sick quitter and sick non-starter hypotheses)

KBS 37th, Melbourne, Australia, 11 – 15 April 2011:

Steven Bell, University College London, UK.

(paper: Steven Bell, Annie Britton, & Martin Shipley: Binge drinking in usual and maximum drinking sessions, and abstaining from alcohol during midlife as risk factors for developing depression: evidence from a prospective longitudinal cohort study)

KBS 36th, Lausanne, Switzerland, 31 May – 4 June 2010:

Karen Schelleman-Offermans, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.

(paper: Karen Schelleman-Offermans, Emmanuel Kuntsche, & Ronald Knibbe: Do motives predict drinking? A full crossed-lagged model of drinking motives and adolescent alcohol use)

KBS 35th, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2 – 5 June 2009:

Sandra Kuntsche, Swiss Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Problems, Lausanne, Switzerland.

(paper: Sandra Kuntsche, Ronald Knibbe, Gerhard Gmel, & Emmanuel Kuntsche: Desperate housewives? The relevance of societal factors in the association between social roles and alcohol use)

KBS 34th, Victoria, Canada, 2 – 6 June 2008:

Svetlana Popova, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Toronto, Canada.

(paper: Svetlana Popova, Juergen Rehm, Jayadeep Patra, William Gnam, & Anna Sarnocinska Hart: Alcohol related Laws and Avoidable Burden and its Costs due to Motor Vehicle Accidents in Canada, 2002).

KBS 33rd, Budapest, Hungary, 4 – 8 June 2007:

Michael Livingston, AER Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre, Australia.

(paper: Michael Livingston, Anne-Marie Laslett, & Paul Dietze: Individual and community correlates of high-risk youth drinking)

KBS 32rd, Maastricht, Nederland, 29 May – 2 June 2006:

Emmanuel Kuntsche, Swiss Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Problems, Lausanne, Switzerland.

(paper: Emmanuel Kuntsche: Drinking motives as mediators of the link between alcohol expectancies and alcohol use among adolescents)

Evelien Poelen, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

(paper: Evelien Poelen: The relative contribution of genes and environment to alcohol use in adolescents and young adults)