Rules of Contest for the Harry Otten Prize for Innovation in Meteorology 2024 – 2025

Conditions

The rules of the contest are outlined below. By participating in this competition and/or submitting the registration form, you declare that you agree with the competition rules. A contestant may not deviate from the competition rules. This would result in exclusion from participation. In those cases not covered by the Rules of Contest, the Harry Otten Foundation Board will make the decision.

Competition rules

1. Participation in the contest is open to persons wherever they live in the world, or to groups with a maximum of 3 persons. (A group will always be represented by one person.)

2. The proposal must be written in English.

3. The first prize consists of a sum of money amounting to Euro 25,000. This prize should preferably, but not necessarily,  be spent on executing the winning idea. The finalists (see point 6) who do not win the first prize will receive an amount of Euro 2,500. The jury reserves the right to divide the first prize over more than one finalist.

4. Registration for participation in the competition is done through the Internet. The registration commences on 15 September 2024 and closes at 00 GMT 10 March 2025. Registrations and entries that are received after the closing date and time will not be included in the judging. The time of receipt by the Harry Otten Foundation is decisive. The Harry Otten Foundation is not responsible for any delays in the digital submission of the registration by a contestant. Following receipt of the registration by the Harry Otten Foundation, the contestant will receive an (automated) confirmation of his or her registration at the e-mail address that he or she has provided. The registrations and the entries have to fulfil the requirements stipulated on the registration form. Incomplete registration forms will not be considered and will be returned to the applicant.

Each contestant (or person belonging to a group) may only register once. The entries have to be innovative in nature. The prize is not meant for work that has been done already, but for ideas that still have to be developed or are in an early stage of development. To give guidance which ideas could lead to a prize and which ideas could not lead to a prize, see the Guidance page on the website of the Harry Otten Foundation.

The contestant guarantees that his or her entry is the result of his or her own work (or the work of the members of the group).  The work may or may not be protected by intellectual property rights in the name of the contestant. If third parties are able to lay claim to any intellectual property rights on the entry, the contestant guarantees that he or she has received written consent from the actual entitled party or parties to submit the entry  in the H.O. Prize contest.

A number of stages are involved in the competition:

5. The contestants in the pre-selection stage. Contestants must submit a pre-proposal in the form of a short description of no more than 3 pages, in which the following is stated:

• The content of the proposal; how the proposal contributes to the solution of a practical meteorological problem.
• A description how the idea could be implemented.
• The contestant’s motivation; why he or she thinks he or she should be considered for the prize
• Whether the idea has been put forward in the past and whether a patent has been requested for the idea
• A declaration stating that the idea is completely attributable to the contestant (or the group members) and that, as far as the contestant is aware, other parties cannot lay claim to the idea.
• A resumé of the contestant(s), with a maximum of one A4 sheet per person.

6. The evaluation and selection process will take place as follows:

The Board of the Harry Otten Foundation carries out the evaluation and selection process; details of this process are presented in the 13 November 2016 News article.

The evaluation and selection process especially will pay attention to factors such as “how much does the proposal contribute to the solution of a practical meteorological problem”, practicality of the proposal and originality, or innovation.

First selection round. Pre-selection: Once the time-limit for entry has expired, all pre-proposals will be evaluated against completeness of the registration and the prize criteria. This will be performed by the jury and the Foundation secretariat.  The jury consists of members of the Board of the Harry Otten Foundation.

During the first evaluation round and the second evaluation round described below, the jury may request further information with regard to the participant and his or her entry. A meeting or a telephone conversation with the participant may be requested. Outside experts may also be consulted. Delivery of the information by a participant must be in the way stipulated by the jury. Based on the entry, the additional information submitted by the participant, the findings of the jury and input, if any, produced by outside experts, the jury will select up to a maximum of eight semi-finalists for the submission of a full proposal.

The jury will aim for all participants to have received a message by mid April 2025 on whether they are one of the semi-finalists.

The semi-finalists will be asked:

• to detail their proposal further, taking into account any directions given to them by the jury.
• if applicable: to provide a complete copy of the request for patent rights or the licensing agreement
• a copy of proof of identity
• a declaration of the participant stating how he or she intends to spend the money (e.g. to realize his or her idea) and whether he or she would appreciate help from third parties, for example a provider of meteorological services, to implement his or her idea.

The detailed proposals have to be submitted before the date stipulated by the evaluation committee, 29 May 2025.

Second evaluation round. Selection of the finalists:  From those persons who have submitted a full proposal, the jury will select a maximum of three finalists. The jury reserves the right to select fewer than three finalists, or no finalist at all. The jury will aim for all semi- finalists to have received a message by early July 2025 on whether they are one of the finalists.

The finalists are required to present their idea during a special session of the EMS (European Meteorological Society) Annual Meeting, which will be held in Ljubljana, Slovenia 8-12 September 2025. (A group is allowed to share the presentation among members of the group). It is currently anticipated that this session will be held on Monday 8 September 2025. Based on the written submitted idea and the presentation by the participant, the jury will decide the winner of the H.O. Prize. The jury’s decision is binding. The public announcement of the prize winner(s) will take place during the official award ceremony during the same conference organised by the EMS.

At the request of the finalists, the Harry Otten Foundation will arrange travel and accommodation for that part of the EMS conference during which the presentation and the prize-giving ceremony will take place and in this case will also bear these costs. (For a group the H.O. Foundation only will bear the costs for the representative of the group).

7. The finalists agree that they will cooperate free of charge in a possible publicity campaign or other coverage of the Harry Otten Foundation concerning this competition or any subsequent competitions of the Harry Otten Foundation.

In addition, the finalists give the Harry Otten Foundation permission to use images and/or descriptions of their entries for the purpose of the aforementioned publicity campaign or other coverage concerning this competition and the prize-giving ceremony of the H.O. Prize. This permission is free of charge, irrevocable and applies to all communications in words and/or pictures, irrespective of the medium used by the Harry Otten Foundation.

An intellectual property right, if any, on an entry remains with the finalists and will not be transferred to the Harry Otten Foundation. The Foundation can assist the finalists in the further development and implementation of his or her idea if desired.

8. Reimbursement for finalists

A finalist (i.e. one representative per project) of the Harry Otten Prize competition is expected to attend the EMS meeting. Here he/she shall present the idea in order to compete for one of the prizes. Each finalist is entitled to be reimbursed for the following costs.

Travel

• An economy class ticket for the return flight to the nearest commercial airport of the EMS conference location of that year. An alternative is a return train ticket to the city of the EMS venue.
• Travel by public transport to the home airport or station. Or airport parking fees in case of travel by private vehicle.
• Travel (by public transport or taxi) from the destination airport or train station to the hotel.
• Meals on board the aircraft or train.

Accommodation

The accommodation costs of the Conference hotel(s) or hotels of similar class elsewhere near the conference venue. Based on bed and breakfast and for a maximum stay of three nights.

Conference

Conference registration fee for the whole duration of the EMS conference.

For all expenses we require the finalist to send an estimate of these costs to the Harry Otten Foundation at least 2 weeks before the EMS meeting.

For all expenses made, an invoice or other proof of payment is needed in order to claim these costs afterwards. At the end of the EMS conference a clear overview of all costs plus invoices should be handed over or sent to one of the members (preferably the treasurer) of the Board of the Harry Otten Foundation. The following details should be submitted as well for a quick settlement of all financial matters:

• All relevant banking information such as: account number, bank address, name of account holder.
• Full address and contact details of the account holder.

9. Finally:

• No correspondence may be entered into about the pre-selection, the nominations and the final result.
• The Board will not communicate with the contestants about the reasons for selection or non-selection of any ideas at any stage of the process.
• Participants have to follow generally accepted ethics, laws and rules.
• The value of the prize can be subject to (income) tax in the Netherlands or in the winner’s or winners’ country of origin. The tax that is levied is payable by the winners of the prizes. (If a group wins the prize, it will be split equally among the members of the group unless in the application form another split is indicated.)The Harry Otten Foundation recommends that winning participants contact a tax advisor.
• In those cases not covered by these competition rules, the Harry Otten Foundation Board will make the decision.
• The board reserves the right to reject applications from persons are excluded from registering in the EMS annual meeting.