(Award for pioneering projects for digitalisation in ENT medicine)
Statutes dated 29 January 2019 (with amendments dated 3 August 2021)

The ‘Jochen Werner Innovation Award’ of the German Society for Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery (DGHNO-KHC) is an award for pioneering projects by young doctors or scientists in the field of digitalisation in otorhinolaryngology. As a promotional award, it is intended to honour the personality of the prizewinner1 and highlight special achievements in the implementation of advancing digitalisation in ENT medicine.

The prize is awarded annually for the most innovative contribution to digitalisation in the field of ENT medicine. The first award ceremony took place in 2019, irrespective of the regulations laid down in these statutes, after which it will take place once a year, initially for a limited period of five years. The award winner will be announced at the annual meeting of the DGHNO-KHC.

The project or contribution to be submitted for the award can be nominated by the applicant as a member of the DGHNO-KHC or by a third party. Any member of the DGHNO-KHC can apply for the award; non-members can be nominated by a member of the DGHNO-KHC.

The proposal must be received in writing by the Secretary of the DGHNO-KHC via the office in Bonn by 1 November of the previous congress year. In addition to a detailed project description, the proposal must also include the applicant's CV and a list of publications. It is recommended that the submission be accompanied by a letter from the clinic director. The applicant must not have reached the age of 40 by the application deadline.

When selecting suitable application projects, the thematically appropriate contributions submitted for the respective annual meeting will also be included in the selection process by the panel of judges for the awarding of the prize. For this purpose, the respective programme committee is asked to draw the attention of the panel of judges to entries that it considers worthy of an award. The panel of judges may ask selected candidates to submit complete application documents, regardless of the application deadlines and with an open mind.

Evaluation criteria are in particular the degree of innovation, the practical feasibility and the significance for the progress of digitalisation in ENT medicine.

The panel of judges consists of the President and Deputy President of the DGHNO-KHC, the 1st Chairman of the German Study Centre for Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, the head of the ‘Digital Future in Healthcare’ working group, the spokesperson of the Young ENT Association and, from 2020, the winner from the previous year. The judges decide on the awarding of the prize by a simple majority. In the event of a tie, the President has the casting vote. The awarding of the prize and the associated financial endowment can also be divided among several prize winners.

The prize is financed from the financial resources donated by Professor Jochen A. Werner, which ensure that the funds are used in accordance with the statutes and tax regulations. The award is associated with a financial endowment of €1,000 per year or award. If the financial resources donated by Professor Jochen A. Werner are not sufficient or not sufficient in full to cover the endowment associated with the award, the Executive Committee reserves the right to decide on the award and the amount of the endowment. If the available financial resources are insufficient or if the panel of judges decides not to award the prize, the award and/or the endowment may be suspended.

There is no legal recourse against the decision of the jury.

1 The wording includes members of all genders (m/f/d). The use of the masculine form here and in the following is solely for the sake of readability.