ANU researcher Dr Philip Batterham has been recognised with the prestigious 2015 Paul Bourke Award for Early Career Research from the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) for his outstanding level of achievement in the social sciences.

Phil, from the  Centre for Mental Health Research said it was a great honour to be shortlisted and selected as the winner of the highly competitive award for excellence in scholarly contribution in the social sciences.

"I was thrilled to receive the award at the ASSA annual dinner in Canberra, which was attended by some of Australia's most eminent social scientists. This award affirmed that my work in mental health research has been recognised," Dr Batterham said.

The award is in honour of the late Paul Francis Bourke, President of the Academy from 1993-1997 was presented at the annual ASSA dinner in the Great Hall at University House.

The award is the latest accolade for Phil.  In JunePhil was recognised with the 2015 Commonwealth Health Minister's Award for Health and Medical Research, where he received a medal and $50,000 of research funding.

In September Phil received the highest-ranked Career Development Fellowship in Population Health from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

Next year Phil will present the Paul Bourke Lecture to further communicate his research goals to the public.