The BNPA is a member organisation and part of our role is to attract junior scientists, psychologists and doctors to this incredible field. Last year we only had around 50 juniors attend – only around 25% of our delegates. This is a great shame and an opportunity missed to grow the next generation of leaders. As a result, we wanted to make it easier for those people who are just starting out and have limited (or non-existent) study budgets to attend and be inspired by our speakers and members.

The cost for registration for juniors of any variety is therefore lower this year but only if they book early. We appreciate that study budgets are only around £400 for the whole year for many doctors and many people subsidise their study from their own money. As a result, we have tried to reduce the price most for those who are most junior and therefore have the lowest salary. Juniors who have a poster accepted can access an even lower fee.

We have also sourced rooms at a cheap rate from a local hotel which we are offering free, for the Thursday night, to a limited number of juniors who apply early. Many consultants that we have spoken to would also appreciate sourcing hotel rooms through the BNPA, which may be easier for them to organise and cheaper than the rate they would get if they applied close to the date, which is when most of us would end up organising details like this! Consequently, we also have rooms that more senior members can book through us.

Based on our numbers and costs last year we have projected the cost of the conference in 2019, bearing in mind the cost of some of our excellent speakers coming from abroad. We have set the fee for registration for senior members at the lowest cost we can to cover these costs. This takes into account the fact that our reserves are lower than they should be. This does mean that there is a small rise in cost for consultants coming for both days compared to last year. To offset this we have set fees for senior members who submit a poster at the same cost as an early non-poster registration last year and would encourage members to submit an abstract. As for previous years, registration fees increase the later you register – so please apply early!

The BNPA was set up to be a member organisation, to enable like-minded professionals to engage with each other and attract others to our field. We would encourage everyone who wants to be a member to apply to join us. Registration fees are higher for those people who are not members this year – but we would encourage them all to join. I’m hugely looking forward to this conference and to seeing you all there.

Boyd Ghosh
Treasurer BNPA

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