ANNEX

European Society of Biomechanics Awards Regulations

1.       Award Categories

1.1      S.M. Perren Research Award

1.2      Clinical Biomechanics Award

1.3      Student Awards

1.4      Poster Award

1.5      Travel Awards

European Society of Biomechanics: S.M. Perren Research Award

1.       General

1.1      At every ESB Congress an award will be given to an original research paper based on the selection made by an Award Committee.

1.2      The award will consist of a) a certificate, and b) CHF 10,000.

1.3      The monetary prize will be provided by the AO Foundation in Davos, Switzerland.

2.       Selection

2.1      Selection will be made by the Award Committee from original manuscripts submitted electronically by one or more authors, exclusively for this purpose.

2.2      Manuscripts will be solicited by advertising in the Journal of Biomechanics, by email to the ESB members and other distribution lists as well as on the ESB Web page at least one year before the Congress. Three months before the submission deadline another round of advertisement should be conducted via the same channels of dissemination.

2.3      The response time for evaluation of the submitted proposals will be three months and the winner will be notified approximately three months before the Congress.

3.       Eligibility

3.1      All original manuscripts (written in English) in the field of biomechanics, which have not been published before or submitted for publication (except to the Journal of Biomechanics) are eligible.

3.2      The competition is not restricted to ESB members but if the winner is not a member, membership will be encouraged by the Award Committee Chairman.

3.3      Papers authored or co-authored by Award Committee members are not eligible.

4.       Award Committee

4.1      The Award Committee is appointed by the Council and consists of the following members: Vice-President (ex officio, Chairman), Secretary-General (ex officio), Chief Editor of Journal of Biomechanics (ex officio), two to four Council members, up to three previous awardees, up to four other members.

4.2      The Committee will have a minimum of seven and maximum of thirteen members. Members must disclose to the Council any potential conflict of interest (e.g. either nominating or submitting for the award or a former mentor or mentee). Members in conflict will be excused from participation in the assessment of the award.

4.3      The Chairman of the Award Committee is a non-voting member of the Award Committee but is responsible for administrating the process. He/she is responsible for providing peer-review comments to the other committee members by having each manuscript refereed by two authorities in its field. Topical reviewers should be agreed to by the Chief Editor of Journal of Biomechanics and conduct their reviews in compliance with regulations of that journal.

4.4      Each committee member independently reviews the appropriate material (manuscript and comments provided by peer review) and submits his/her score electronically to the Chair without discussion amongst the other committee members. The recipient of the award will be determined via the highest average score as tabulated by the Chair. If an average ranking is identical for two or more candidates, the Chairman of the Award Committee will make a final decision.

5.       Presentation

5.1      The award will be presented at a time designated by the Program Committee of each Congress.

5.2      A presentation of the award receiving paper will also be scheduled during the Congress.

5.3      The members of ESB will be informed about the winners by circulation in the ESB Forum and the Newsletter as well as by an announcement on the ESB web page. ESB aims at publishing the winning manuscript as an award paper in the Journal of Biomechanics. This process will be handled by the Publication Committee in coordination with the Awards Chair and the Chief Editor of the Journal of Biomechanics.

European Society of Biomechanics: Clinical Biomechanics Award

1.       General

1.1      ESB establishes a Clinical Biomechanics Award with the purpose of fostering the application of Biomechanics to clinically oriented problems.

1.2      At every ESB Congress the Clinical Biomechanics Award will be given to a paper based on the selection made by an ad hoc Award Committee.

1.3      The award consists of a) a certificate and b) 1000 €.

1.4      To this purpose funds will be provided by the ESB treasurer. However, the sponsorship of another

           Institution or person may be accepted upon formal approval of the Council. Currently the award is sponsored by Elsevier.

2.       Eligibility

2.1      All original papers submitted and accepted for oral presentation at an ESB Congress in the field of Clinical Biomechanics are eligible.

2.2      The first author of the paper must be either an ESB member or must have applied for ESB membership at the time of submission.

2.3      Papers authored or co-authored by Award Committee members are not eligible.

3.       Award Committee

3.1      The Council appoints an Award Committee at least six months prior to the ESB Congress.

3.2      It consists of a minimum of five and a maximum of seven members. Among them there must be at least one ESB Council member, the Chief Editor of Clinical Biomechanics (ex officio), and at least one person involved in the organization of the Congress. Members must disclose to the Council any potential conflict of interest (e.g. either nominating or submitting for the award or a former mentor or mentee). Members in conflict will be excused from participation in the assessment of the award.

3.3      The Chairman of the Committee must be an ESB Council member and is appointed by the Council. He/she is a non-voting member of the Award Committee but is responsible for administrating the process.

4.       Selection

4.1      The Scientific Committee of the Congress will carry out a pre-selection based exclusively on the assessment of the clinical relevance of the paper submitted.

4.2      Further selection of four finalists will be carried out before the Congress by the Award Committee based on scientific excellence and clinical relevance of the pre-selected abstracts.

4.3      The authors of the papers selected for the final competition will be informed of this circumstance. These papers will be scheduled for presentation in a designated session of the Congress.

4.4      The final selection of the award paper will be made by the Committee based on the abstract material and presentation.

4.5      Detailed rating criteria will be provided to the Committee members by the Committee Chairman.

5.       Presentation

5.1      The award presentation will take place during the Closing Ceremony or the Banquet of the Congress according to a protocol decided by the Congress organizers.

5.2            The members of ESB will be informed about the winners by circulation in the ESB Forum and the Newsletter as well as by an announcement on the ESB web page. The award winning paper will be so solicited as a publication in Clinical Biomechanics by the Publication Committee. The review process will be handled by the Publication Committee in coordination with the Chief Editor of Clinical Biomechanics.

European Society of Biomechanics: Student Awards

1.       General

1.1      ESB establishes Student Awards with the purpose to honor excellence in biomechanics already at a relatively young age.

1.2      At every ESB Congress one first prize Student Award and three runner up Awards will be given to four students at the ESB Congress.

1.3      The award consists of a) a certificate for each winner and b) 1000 € for the first place and 250 € for the runners up.

1.4      To this purpose funds will be provided by the ESB treasurer. However, the sponsorship of another institution or person may be accepted upon formal approval of the Council. Currently the award is sponsored by Elsevier.

2.       Eligibility

2.1      All original papers submitted by a student and accepted at an ESB Congress in any field of biomechanics are eligible.

2.2      The nominee must be the first author of the paper and must be either an ESB member or must have applied for ESB membership at the time of submission.

2.3      The application must include a letter by the student supervisor including an award nomination and stating and that the student is officially enrolled in a University program.

2.4      Papers authored or co-authored by Award Committee members are eligible.

3.       Award Committee

3.1      The Council appoints an Award Committee at least six months prior to the ESB Congress.

3.2      It consists of a minimum of five and a maximum of seven members. Among them there must be at least one ESB Council member and at least one person involved in the organization of the Congress. Members must disclose to the Council any potential conflict of interest (e.g. either nominating or submitting for the award or a former mentor or mentee). Members in conflict will be excused from participation in the assessment of the award.

3.3      The Chairman of the Committee must be an ESB Council member and is appointed by the Council. He/she is a non-voting member of the Award Committee but is responsible for administrating the process.

4.       Selection

4.1      The Scientific Committee of the Congress will carry out a pre-selection based exclusively on the assessment of the scientific content and relevance to biomechanics of the paper submitted.

4.2      Further selection of four finalists will be carried out before the Congress by the Award Committee based on the abstracts of the papers.

4.3      The authors of the papers selected for the final competition will be informed of this circumstance. These papers will be scheduled for presentation in a designated session of the Congress.

4.4      The final selection of the first prize award paper will be made after the Student Award session based on the abstract material and the presentation.

4.5      Detailed rating criteria and the exact selection procedure will be provided by the Committee Chairman.

5.       Presentation

5.1      The award presentation will take place during the Closing Ceremony or the Banquet of the Congress according to a protocol decided by the Congress organizers.

5.3            The members of ESB will be informed about the winners by circulation in the ESB Forum and the Newsletter as well as by an announcement on the ESB web page.

European Society of Biomechanics: Poster Award

1.       General

1.1      ESB establishes a Poster Award with the purpose of raising the quality of poster presentations at ESB Congresses.

1.2      At every ESB Congress one Poster Award will be given to the best poster presentation based on the selection made by an ad hoc Award Committee.

1.3      The Award consists of a) a certificate and b) 300 €.

1.4      To this purpose funds will be provided by the ESB Treasurer. However, the sponsorship of another Institution or person may be accepted upon formal approval of the Council. Currently the award is sponsored by Bertec.

2.       Eligibility

2.1      All original papers submitted and accepted for poster presentation at an ESB Congress are eligible.

2.2      The first author of the paper must be either an ESB member or must have applied for ESB membership at the time of submission.

2.3      Papers authored or co-authored by Award Committee members are not eligible.

3.       Award Committee

3.1      The Council appoints an Award Committee at least six months prior to the ESB Congress.

3.2      It consists of a minimum of five and maximum of seven members. Among them there must be at least one ESB Council member and at least one person involved in the organization of the Congress. Members must disclose to the Council any potential conflict of interest (e.g. either nominating or submitting for the award or a former mentor or mentee). Members in conflict will be excused from participation in the assessment of the award.

3.3      The Chairman of the Committee must be an ESB Council member and is appointed by the Council. He/she is a non-voting member of the Award Committee but is responsible for administrating the process.

4.       Selection

4.1      The final selection of the awarded paper will be made by the Committee based on both the abstract and the poster presentation.

4.2      Detailed rating criteria will be provided to the Committee members by the Committee Chairman.

5.       Presentation

5.1      The award presentation will take place during the Closing Ceremony of the Congress or the Banquet according to a protocol decided by the Congress organizers.

5.2      The members of ESB will be informed about the winners by circulation in the ESB Forum and the Newsletter as well as by an announcement on the ESB web page.

European Society of Biomechanics: Travel Awards

1.       General

1.1      ESB establishes Travel Awards with the purpose of allowing researchers with limited financial resources to participate at the next upcoming ESB Congress.

1.2      For every ESB Congress a maximum of 8 Travel Awards will be given to the worthiest applicant(s) based on the selection made by an ad hoc Award Committee.

1.3      The Award consists of a) a certificate and b) 400 €.

1.4      To this purpose funds will be provided by the ESB Treasurer. However, the sponsorship of another Institution or person may be accepted upon formal approval of the Council.

2.       Eligibility

2.1      Any person with limited financial resources who has shown a solid interest in biomechanics and who has an accepted paper for the next upcoming ESB Congress is eligible.

2.2      The applicant must be either an ESB member or must have applied for ESB membership at the time of submission.

2.3      Applicants with Award Committee members as co-authors on the abstract are not eligible.

3.       Award Committee

3.1      The Council appoints an Award Committee at least six months prior to the ESB Congress.

3.2      It consists of a minimum of three and maximum of five members. Among them there must be at least one ESB Council member and at least one person involved in the organization of the Congress. Members must disclose to the Council any potential conflict of interest (e.g. either nominating or submitting for the award or a former mentor or mentee). Members in conflict will be excused from participation in the assessment of the award.

3.3      The Chairman of the Committee must be an ESB Council member and is appointed by the Council. He/she is a non-voting member of the Award Committee but is responsible for administrating the process.

4.       Application

4.1      Applicants should forward their request for a travel award to the Chairman of the Award Committee at the time of abstract submission set by the Congress organizers.

4.2      Electronic applications must include a letter carrying the following information: applicant's full name, address, nationality, age, ESB membership status, information concerning his/her present position, name of his/her present institution, name and address of the academic adviser, justification for financial support.

4.3      The application should be accompanied by the following electronic documents:

a)       officially submitted paper to the ESB Congress;

b)       applicant's curriculum vitae and list of publications;

c)       one letter of support and electronically signed from a senior scientist in biomechanics who has knowledge of his/her capabilities.

5.       Selection

5.1      The final selection of the awarded paper will be made by the Committee based on the submitted material.

5.2      Detailed rating criteria will be provided to the Committee members by the Committee Chairman.

6.       Presentation

6.1      The award presentation will take place during the Closing Ceremony of the Congress or the Banquet according to a protocol decided by the Congress organizers.

6.2      The members of ESB will be informed about the winners by circulation in the ESB Forum and the Newsletter as well as by an announcement on the ESB web page.

Proposed: January 11, 2007

Accepted: January 15, 2007