The award is offered in recognition and support of the scientific work of junior scientists in the field of tick-borne diseases and to increase public interest in the field of zoonosis research. It commemorates the founder of TBE research in Germany, Herbert Sinnecker, and honours the developer of the successful TBE vaccine, Christian Kunz.
The award will be presented every other year to a junior scientist on the occasion of the IJSTD and has been presented for the first time in 2007.
Applications will be accepted from young scientists (PhD, MD etc.) who work in the field of tick-borne diseases. In exceptional cases research on other vector-borne diseases may also be considered if it is of high scientific quality and if the insights gained will also be relevant for tick-borne diseases. Applicants for the award in 2009 must not have defended their dissertation prior to January 1, 2007. The application consists of the timely submission of an abstract for a presentation or poster for IJSTD-X. The abstract must be accompanied by a brief curriculum vitae (concentrating on the description of the applicant’s scientific career) and by a short assessment of the applicant’s work and personality by his/her working group leader. We also need a copy of the diploma and MD/PHD document. If the applicant has already published work in the field of TBD, these publications should also be attached to the application.
The jury consists of all the chairpersons of the meeting. The jury will meet after the applicants have given their presentations. Each applicant must present his/her paper. The laureate will be determined by secret ballot. Chairpersons who are the tutor or working group leader of an applicant will not be allowed to vote. The two applicants with the highest number of votes will participate in a final second ballot. The decision of the jury will be final and cannot be challenged legally.
The award consists of a glass trophy, created by the Thuringian artist Wolfgang Nickel, and a money prize of € 3,500. In exceptional cases a second award may be granted which consists of a certificate and € 1,000. In this case the first place will be reduced to € 2,500.
We thank Baxter AG for donating the prize money and for supporting the creation of the trophy.