Young Investigator Award
for Hidradenitis Suppurativa Research

To promote scientific research in the field of Hidradenitis Suppurativa, the Network for Hidradenitis Suppurativa / Acne Inversa Rhein-Ruhr e.V., in cooperation with the German Association for Dermatological Research (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Dermatologische Forschung, ADF) and the German Dermatological Society (Deutsche Dermatologische Gesellschaft, DDG), will establish an annual Young Investigator Award for Hidradenitis Suppurativa Research starting in 2027.

  1. The Young Investigator Research Award is endowed with EUR 3,500. If the award is not presented due to the absence of a recommendation by the Scientific Committee, the allocated amount will be retained and used in one of the subsequent years to increase the award amount.

  2. Young scientists who are 45 years of age or younger are eligible to apply for the award. For the purposes of this award, the award recipient is defined solely as the applicant to whom the award is granted and the senior author of the awarded publication; other co-authors of the awarded publication are not considered award recipients. Submissions may also be made by researchers who are not members of the ADF.

  3. Only first authors of the submitted publication are eligible to apply for the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Research Award; co-authors are not eligible to apply. Each applicant may submit only one publication for consideration.

  4. The submitted scientific publication must have been published no more than 12 months prior to the application deadline. For publications that have not yet been published in print, confirmation of acceptance by the journal must be enclosed.

  5. The submission must be accompanied by a statement confirming that all scientific staff involved in the work have been appropriately acknowledged in the title, footnotes, or main text, and that they agree to the submission of the work for the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Research Award.

  6. The majority of the work must have been conducted at a dermatological research institution in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland.

  7. Applications must be submitted electronically as a PDF file by November 1 of the preceding year to the ADF Office. In addition, applicants should submit a brief curriculum vitae including a list of publications, also in electronic form (PDF). The complete submission must be combined into a single PDF file.

  8. The ADF Office will review the submitted publications for formal compliance with the statutes, reject submissions that do not meet the requirements, and forward formally compliant submissions to the Scientific Committee.

  9. The Scientific Committee will prepare a recommendation for the award for the ADF Board and the Network for Hidradenitis Suppurativa / Acne Inversa Rhein-Ruhr e.V. The publications will be evaluated based on the following criteria: relevance, novelty and originality, complexity of the methods and analysis, plausibility, quality of the journal, and the applicant’s previous scientific achievements.

  10. The award will be presented during the annual meeting of the ADF by representatives of the Network for Hidradenitis Suppurativa / Acne Inversa Rhein-Ruhr e.V. and the German Association for Dermatological Research (ADF).

  11. Acceptance of the award is subject to the submission/publication of a mini-review related to the awarded research in Experimental Dermatology. Submission of the mini-review is mandatory upon acceptance of the award.

  12. Scientific Committee:

  • Dr. Falk G. Bechara (Chair), Deputy Medical Director, Department of Dermatology, Ruhr University Bochum

  • Dr. Kilian Eyerich, Director, Department of Dermatology, University Medical Center Freiburg

  • Dr. Julia Welzel, Director, Department of Dermatology, University Medical Center Augsburg