Statutes dated 20 May 2001 (with amendments dated 10 March 2020)

The purpose of the Plester Foundation is to endow a prize for the best German-language dissertation of a year in the field of otorhinolaryngology, head and neck surgery. The prize is intended to help enable the scientist (doctoral candidate) to carry out further research and thus promote otorhinolaryngology. The award is primarily intended to honour the personality of the award winner and highlight his or her merits.

The dissertation must be submitted with the doctoral certificate, a curriculum vitae and a list of publications by the author himself or by a member of the German Society of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery on behalf of the author to the Secretary of the Society via the Bonn office by e-mail to info@hno.org by 1 October of the previous year of the congress. It is recommended to enclose an accompanying letter from the head of the clinic with the submission.

The submitted dissertation must have been completed in the year prior to the application deadline (1 October to 30 September) and must have been accepted and graded by a medical faculty (a medical department) for the purpose of a doctorate. If no prize-worthy dissertation is submitted in a given year, the prize will not be awarded. The prize may be split in exceptional cases.

The decision on the awarding of the prize is at the discretion of the panel of judges. It is made up of a member of the Society appointed by the Executive Committee as chairperson, who must make a pre-selection and give reasons, the secretary and two further members of the Society to be appointed by the Executive Committee, who must belong to a medical faculty but must not have been supervisors of the doctoral candidate. In the event of a tie, the Chairman has the casting vote.

The winner will be announced and the prize distributed at the annual meeting of the German Society of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery following the closing date for applications. Legal recourse against the decision is excluded.