17. Dr. Bares Award Publication 2025

Competition Rules

Preambule

The pharmaceutical company PRO.MED.CS Praha a. s., Company Registration No.: 001 47 893, with its registered office at Telčská 377/1, Michle, 140 00 Prague 4, Czech Republic, registered in the Commercial Register maintained by the Municipal Court in Prague, Section B, File 3 (“Organiser”) announces the 17^th year of the Dr. Bares Award, Publication competition (“Competition”) to promote medical and scientific knowledge in clinical
practice. This Competition is open to authors of scientific articles submitted in accordance with the Competition Rules.

The Competition shall be held from 1 January 2025 to 8 March 2026 (“Competition Duration”) and Competition applications may only be submitted between 1 January 2025 and 30 September 2025 (“Application Period”). The Competition evaluation process shall take place at three successive levels: a) basic evaluation, b) national evaluation and c) international evaluation.

The historical overview and results of the completed competitions can be found on the website at www.dr-bares-award.com as well as on the Organiser’s website at www.promedcs.com.

Electronic communication shall be conducted via the website at www.dr-bares-award.com,
or the email address at dr-bares-award@promedcs.com.

Overview of dates

Competition Duration

1 January 2025 to 8 March 2026

The submitted scientific articles have to be published in a professional journal within the period of

1 January 2022 to 31 December 2024

Application Period

1 January 2025 to 30 September 2025 23:59:59

Meeting of the international Dr. Bares Award panel to select the best three scientific articles in the Competition

7 March 2026 at the latest
Exact date and place to be specified by the Organiser

The results of the Competition evaluation shall be published on the website at www.dr-bares-award.com

by 15 March 2026 at the latest

The prize money to be paid to the winners

by 31 December 2026

Competition Rules

1. The organiser of the 17^th Dr. Bares Award, Publication competition is the pharmaceutical company PRO.MED.CS Praha a.s., Company Registration Number: 001 47 893, with its registered office at Telčská 377/1, Michle, 140 00 Prague 4, Czech Republic, registered in the Commercial Register maintained by the Municipal Court in Prague, Section B, File 3 (“Organiser”).
2. The Competition is jointly and severally open to the territories of the following countries: Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Slovak Republic, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan (“Competition Countries”).

Competition participants

3. Only a natural person who meets all of the following conditions on the date of the Competition application submission may become a Competition participant:
   • Has reached the age of 18 years and has no legal capacity limitations,
   • Has attained a university degree in a medical field (e.g., physician, pharmacist, veterinarian) or a natural science field (e.g., biochemist, bioanalyst, experimental or molecular biologist, geneticist, biomedical technician, bioinformatician) and is author of a scientific article within the meaning of the rules of this Competition with which he/she applies for the Competition (see the Authorship section),
   • And at the time of publication of the scientific article, he/she had his/her main place of work in one of the Competition Countries (“Applicant”).
4. An applicant who meets the other conditions for participation in the Competition as defined in these Rules who validly registers for the Competition at least once in accordance with these Rules becomes a participant in the Competition (“Participant” or “Entrant”).

Scientific article

5. For the purposes of this Competition, a scientific article means a professional article published in a professional journal, regardless of the publisher’s country, which presents the original results of research conducted by the author him/herself, or by a team of which the author was a member.
6. The Competition accepts full texts of scientific articles, structured according to the requirements of the publisher of the given professional journal for the structure of scientific work, most often in the following form: abstract, introduction, material and methods, results, discussion and conclusion, bibliography, list of authors including their institutions, including the usual method of citing sources, as well as footnotes or endnotes where appropriate.
7. For the purposes of the Competition, a scientific article must meet, among other things, both of the following criteria:
   • original scientific work in gastroenterology or hepatology or those offering new insights into the roles of these disciplines in Metabolic Health (clinical and experimental, including in-vitro, in-vivo, epidemiological work, meta-analyses, etc.) and
   • was published in a professional journal between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2024 or was available at least in its online version during the above period, see Professional journal.
8. These are therefore not articles of a purely informative nature, edited material, corrections or abstracts or summaries, even if published in a professional journal. An abstract of a scientific paper in a professional journal, for example at a conference, is not deemed to be a scientific article. In addition, so called reviews, collections of scientific articles, posters, essays, doctoral or dissertation theses, books, textbooks and proceedings are not considered scientific articles for the purposes of these Rules.
9. It is also not possible to submit a scientific article to the Competition, otherwise it shall be excluded, which, although it meets the other conditions set out in these Rules, had already been awarded one of the first three prizes in a competition of a similar nature organised before 31 December 2024.
10. If a scientific article was published in a professional journal in a language other than English, the condition for its inclusion in the Competition is the submission of its corresponding professional translation into English no later than by the deadline determined by the Organiser.

Professional journal (periodical)

11. A professional journal means a) a reviewed scientific journal, i.e., a printed publication that is published under the same title, with the same content focus and in uniform graphic layout, or b) an electronic reviewed professional journal (periodical) which had an ISSN code assigned at the time of publication of the scientific article (a journal registered and identifiable under an international ISSN code).
12. For the purposes of the Competition, daily press and popular science magazines are not deemed to be professional journals. Assessment and decisions of whether the printed publication is a professional journal may only be made by the Organiser.

Authorship

13. One of the conditions for participation in the Competition is the fact that the Applicant is the author of a scientific article.
14. It is also possible to submit to the Competition a scientific article that is co-authored by two or more persons. In such a case, the co-author whose name appears first in the order of authors listed in the published scientific article is considered the author for the purposes of this Competition. The person listed second and thereafter in the order of authors is considered to be an additional author.
15. For the purposes of this Competition, the author named second on the list of authors of the article to be submitted may be considered to be the author instead of the author determined by fiction as described in the previous paragraph. This can be done provided that the author determined by fiction under the preceding paragraph 14 provides the Applicant (or the second author) with his/her written consent to considering the Applicant to be the author of the article for the purposes of this Competition, and being therefore entitled to submit the scientific article.
16. The Applicant is fully responsible for settling all rights to the submitted scientific article with any co-authors and other persons who own the copyright to the article in question or whose rights may be affected by the given scientific article. By submitting an application to the Competition, the Applicant declares that he/she is entitled to use the scientific article for the purposes and to the extent provided for in these Rules.

Submitting an application to the Competition

17. To enter the Competition, the Applicant shall visit the website at www.dr-bares-award.com during the Application Period where an online Competition application form shall be available in the Publication section at www.dr-bares-award.com/publication and he/she shall properly and fully complete the application and submit it within the Application Period.
18. The Applicant is obliged to fill in all the information required by the application form fully and honestly in English (in Roman script). He/she shall then upload legible photocopies of all the required attachments, which shall in each case include a photocopy of the article to be submitted, a photocopy of the table of contents and the title page of the given professional journal in the case of professional journals that are published in a printed version, or an electronic version of the article including attachments, the table of contents and the website of the electronic professional journal. If a written consent of the author determined by fiction is required, such consent also needs to be uploaded, see section 14 of these Rules. Electronically uploaded documents must be identical to the original version. The Organiser is entitled to request at any time any of the documents submitted also in paper form. Documents sent in paper form must be intact originals of the requested documents, the contents of which shall be legible without difficulty.
19. By ticking the appropriate check boxes, the Applicant confirms in particular that he/she has read the Competition Rules, has no objections to them and undertakes to abide by them fully. The Applicant also declares that he/she has reached the age of 18 years, gives consent to the processing of personal data and agrees to the capture and use of his/her likeness (i.e., consent to filming and photographing) and name (details of the scope and rights are set out in these Rules) and confirms that he/she is the author of the scientific article as specified in these Rules and that he/she has settled all rights with the persons who own the copyright to the scientific article and that he/she is entitled to submit the scientific article to the Competition. He/she then sends the application to the Competition Organiser by clicking the appropriate button.
20. Only one published scientific article can be submitted through one application. Another scientific article can always be submitted by means of a new separate application. One Applicant may submit more than one scientific article to the Competition via a corresponding number of applications. However, one particular scientific article may be registered by only one Applicant who is the author or is considered to be the author hereunder.
21. By submitting an application, the Applicant agrees to abide by the Competition Rules without reservation and to follow the Organiser’s instructions.
22. The relevant date for the Competition application delivery is the date of the application receipt by the Organiser. Upon receipt of the application, a reply confirming receipt of the application is automatically sent to the Participant’s contact e-mail. Such confirmation does not mean successful registration in the Competition, see section Basic evaluation and admission of a scientific article to the Competition. Applications received by the Organiser within the Application Period shall be included in the Basic evaluation in the Competition.
23. Scientific articles received by the Organiser after the lapse of the Application Period shall not be included in the Competition.

Basic evaluation and admission of a scientific article to the Competition

24. The basic evaluation and admission of a scientific article to the Competition is carried out by the Organiser on an ongoing basis within the Application Period, as and when the applications are received by the Organiser. During this process, only the formal aspects of the submissions are evaluated.
25. In the event that the Applicant delivers an incomplete, illegible or otherwise unsatisfactory application form, the Organiser is entitled to ask the Applicant to complete, clarify or correct the data and documents required for proper registration in the Competition within a reasonable time – or within a period of time specified by the Organiser. If the Applicant fails to make the above-mentioned additions properly or within the specified period of time, and the application thus fails to meet the conditions of the Competition, the Organiser is entitled to decide without further delay not to include the application in the Competition. However, the applications must be formally perfect by the time of the closing date for receipt of applications (we recommend that you apply well in advance).
26. Notwithstanding the above, the Competition Organiser is also entitled to refuse an application or exclude it from the Competition if it does not comply with other rules set by the Organiser. The Organiser is not obliged to invite the Applicant to complete or correct the application and is not obliged to inform the Applicant of the reasons for non-inclusion or exclusion of the application.
27. The Organiser shall not include in the Competition (or is entitled to exclude from the Competition at any time) in particular incomplete applications or applications containing false data, applications received after the end of the Application Period, repeated applications of the same Applicant with identical scientific articles, applications not containing scientific articles within the meaning of these Rules, applications containing scientific articles that have been previously submitted to the Competition by another eligible Applicant, applications containing scientific articles that were not published within the period specified in these Rules, even if there is evidence of acceptance for publication, and applications that do not otherwise comply with the Competition Rules or applications from Applicants who do not comply with the Competition Rules.
28. After the formal check of the application, the Organiser is obliged to inform the Applicant whether his/her application has been included in the Competition to his/her e-mail address indicated in the application form. The Applicant becomes registered for the Competition together with the relevant submitted scientific article, upon sending a confirmation of the application inclusion in the Competition, retroactively to the moment of delivery of the respective application to the Competition (hereinafter referred to as “Registration”).
29. A scientific article that meets the basic evaluation in the Competition requirements and is registered for the Competition, and the Participant who submitted it, shall advance to the national evaluation level.
30. For the purposes of the national evaluation, properly registered scientific articles shall be broken down by country of the main place of work of the Participants for which they were registered and shall be anonymised (i.e., no personal data of the Participants shall be transferred).

National evaluation in the Competition

31. The Competition national evaluation is carried out by a national evaluator who is responsible for the regularity of the Competition at national level and who coordinates the selection of scientific articles in the country he/she represents.
32. The national evaluator is selected by the Competition Organiser who guarantees that the national evaluator shall be a generally recognised expert in the field of gastroenterology or hepatology in the territory of the country where the national evaluation level takes place. In the event that only one to five scientific articles are submitted in a given territory, the Organiser may entrust the evaluation to an evaluator, a generally recognised expert in the field of gastroenterology or hepatology, from another country where more articles have been submitted. The evaluator shall then evaluate each country separately; articles from multiple countries are not pooled into one country.
33. The registered scientific articles shall be evaluated by the national evaluator with regard to a) originality of the scientific article, b) relevance and contribution to medical disciplines and c) application of the results in practice.
34. In the event that fewer than ten scientific articles for a given country have advanced to the national evaluation level, the national evaluator shall select a maximum of three scientific articles to be nominated to the international evaluation. In the event that more than ten scientific articles for a given country have advanced to the national evaluation level, the national evaluator shall have the right to select two more articles per each additional one to ten scientific articles for the international evaluation level. If, for example, fifty-two articles have advanced to the national evaluation level, the national evaluator is entitled to select thirteen articles.
35. If the national evaluator concludes that a sufficient number of scientistic articles fail to sufficiently meet the Competition criteria by which the national evaluator evaluates articles, the national evaluator is entitled to select fewer than three scientific articles to advance to the international evaluation level, or to select none.
36. The selected scientific articles advancing to the international evaluation level shall be submitted by the national evaluator to the Organiser together with a brief written justification why the particular article has been selected by 19 December 2025 at the latest. The Organiser shall not influence the decision of the national evaluator in any way and shall respect the results of his/her evaluation. The results of the national evaluation shall be published on the website at www.dr-bares-award.com by 23 December 2025. The Organiser shall make sure that the selected scientific articles and the justification for their selection provided by the national evaluator from the national evaluation level for the international evaluation level are forwarded to all individual members of the international panel by 9 January 2026 at the latest.

International evaluation of scientific articles

37. International evaluation shall be carried out by an international panel composed of at least three and no more than eight members. The number of members of the panel shall be decided by the Organiser taking into account in particular the number of scientific articles qualifying from all national evaluations for the international evaluation.
38. The Organiser shall select the members of the international panel and appoint their substitutes in case it is necessary to adjust the composition of the panel for objective reasons during the Competition. The Organiser guarantees that only generally recognised experts in the field of gastroenterology and hepatology shall become members of the international panel.
39. A member of the international panel can be replaced by a substitute in the event of objective impossibility to participate in the decision-making process. Any substitute must be a person with medical background, working in the field of gastroenterology or hepatology, generally recognised in the field.
40. Neither the author nor any additional author of a scientific article submitted to the Competition may become a member or a substitute at the international panel. A member of the international panel and a substitute shall provide a statutory declaration that he/she shall decide impartially, objectively and to the best of his/her professional knowledge and conscience in accordance with the Competition Rules.
41. The international panel meeting to select the best three scientific articles in the Competition shall take place between 1 March 2026 and 7 March 2026 at the venue designated by the Organiser.
42. Prior to the actual meeting, the members of the international panel shall select from among themselves a chairperson of the panel who shall preside over the meeting and have the right to decide on disputed issues. In selecting the chairperson of the international panel, each member shall have one vote and the member who receives the highest number of votes shall become the chairperson of the international panel. In the event of a tie, the election process shall be repeated once. If, even in this re-election, the chairperson of the panel is not elected, the Organiser shall appoint the chairperson.
43. The decision-making process of the international panel shall be as follows:
    Basic evaluation and voting of the international panel:
    a) Each member of the international panel has five sets of point allocations in this evaluation, each with a different number of points and containing a descending range of five to one point. Thus, the first set contains five points, the second set contains four points, etc.).
    b) Each member of the international panel shall select five scientific articles and awards the respective sets of points to them. In a vote, they shall thus assign each of the sets of points available to them. It means that the scientific article which the given member considers to be the best according to the criteria described above shall be awarded five points, the second best four points, the third best three points, and so on. The point allocations are indivisible and noncombinable; therefore, each member of the international panel must assign one specific value from the set of points to the given scientific article. A member of the panel cannot assign the same number of points to more than one scientific article.
    c) Each member of the panel shall assign point allocations to individual scientific articles independently, solely at his or her own professional discretion.
    d) The chairperson of the panel shall add up the points awarded to each scientific article by all members of the panel, including him/herself, and according to their sum shall determine the ranking of the scientific articles. More points mean a better ranking. The Entrant who has submitted one of the three scientific articles with the highest number of points shall receive the prizes listed below.
    e) Only the first three places are evaluated in the Competition.
    Re-evaluation and voting:
    f) In the event that more than one scientific article achieves the same score in the basic international evaluation, so that it is not possible to clearly determine the ranking of the scientific articles in the first three places, the scientific articles with the same number of points are re-evaluated, solely to determine the clear ranking of these articles within the ranking of the basic international round. For example, in a situation where the third highest score is awarded to four scientific articles, only these four articles are re-evaluated separately to determine the third place in the Competition. If there are several groups of scientific articles with the same number of points, making it impossible to clearly determine the order of the winning articles (e.g., scores of 10 points, 10 points, 7 points, 7 points, etc.), the re-evaluation of these groups is done separately to determine the final ranking of the scientific articles with identical scores, by first re-evaluating the group with the highest score, and then, if the first three places in the Competition are still not clearly determined, successively evaluating the other groups of scientific articles with the next highest identical scores until the first three places in the Competition are clearly determined.
    g) In this re-evaluation, each member of the panel has n-1 sets of point allocations, where n is the number of scientific articles under evaluation, up to a maximum of five sets of point allocations. These point allocations contain between one and n-1 points. Thus, for example, if the number of evaluated scientific articles (n) is three, then any panel member has two sets of points at his/her disposal, one containing two points and the other one point.
    h) The panel votes in this re-evaluation in the same way as in the basic international vote. Thus, each member of the panel has only the above sets of point allocations to assign to the scientific articles in this re-evaluation process.
    i) The chairperson of the panel shall add up the points awarded to each scientific article by all members of the international panel, including him/herself, and determine the ranking of the scientific articles according to their sum. A higher number of points means a better ranking. If, in view of the equal number of points obtained, no clear ranking can be determined even in a specific re-evaluation, the chairperson of the international panel shall decide, within the framework of this equality, on the final ranking of the articles with the same number of points in this evaluation.
    j) The resulting rankings of the re-evaluated scientific articles are used in the overall rankings of the evaluated scientific articles resulting from the basic vote instead of the original equality of points.

Rewards in the national Competition and their handover

44. At the national evaluation level, according to the Competition Rules, the selected scientific articles, and/or scientific articles that advance to the international evaluation level, are awarded a national “award” with equal placement. The award for their authors is a diploma and the advancement of the scientific article to the international evaluation level of the Competition. The diploma shall be handed over to the authors of the ranked scientific articles by the person in charge of the Organiser after the international evaluation level, unless otherwise agreed in advance.

Prizes in the Competition

45. At the international evaluation level, a total of three best scientific articles are selected according to the Competition Rules, indicating the first to third place. The prize for the successful Entrants awarded at the international evaluation level is a diploma and a prize money.
46. The amount of the prize money for the authors of scientific articles ranked first to third at the international level of the 17^th Dr. Bares Award, Publication competition, is determined as follows:
    1^st place – EUR 15,000
    2^nd place – EUR 9,000
    3^rd place – EUR 5,000

Announcing the Competition results and handing over the Competition prizes

47. The prizes shall be handed over to the winning Entrants personally by a representative of the Organiser at the official award ceremony. The date and venue of the award ceremony shall be announced by the Organiser by 31 December 2025 on the websites at www.dr-bares-award.com and at www.promedcs.com. The Organiser reserves the right to change or cancel the date and venue of the award ceremony due to force majeure. The prize money shall be paid by 31 December 2026.
48. The prize recipients (winners of the Competition) undertake to respect the terms and conditions of the prize money handover. The prize handover is conditional upon signing of the record on handing over the Competition prize money and personal participation in the award ceremony at the time and place specified by the Organiser.
49. In the event that the winner of the Competition is unable to attend the award ceremony in person for excusable reasons, he/she is entitled to ask the Organiser to be represented by a person designated by him/her or may be represented by a legal representative.
50. All reasonable and proven costs associated with the prize takeover (e.g., accommodation, tickets, air tickets, etc.), up to a maximum of CZK 50,000, shall be reimbursed to the winner (the prize recipient or his/her authorised representative) by the Organiser upon prior agreement, against the submitted statement of expenses. The prize recipient is obliged to properly and completely document the costs.
51. In the event that the above-described award ceremony is not held, or the winner or his/her representative is unable to attend it in person, the prize shall be paid to the winner on the basis of the prize money handover record, bearing a certified signature, to the bank account provided by the winner on the date specified above. The certificate shall be sent to the address provided.

Final provisions of the Rules

52. A full, valid and effective version of the Competition Rules shall be published by the Organiser in a manner allowing remote access.
53. The Competition Rules and the legal relations arising in connection with the Competition are governed by the law of the Czech Republic to the maximum extent possible without the application of conflicting rules of law or international treaties that would require the application, even in part, of a law other than the law of the Czech Republic. To the maximum extent possible, the general courts of the Czech Republic shall have exclusive jurisdiction to adjudicate and resolve disputes relating to the Competition and the participation of Entrants and other persons in the Competition, and shall decide such disputes in accordance with the substantive and procedural law of the Czech Republic.
54. The Entrants acknowledge that the prize won in the Competition is not legally enforceable pursuant to Section 2874 of Act No. 89/2012 Coll., the Civil Code, as amended (the “Civil Code”).
55. By completing and submitting the application form, the Participant declares that his/her rights to participate in this Competition are not restricted in any way, legally or factually. In the event that any third party approaches the Organiser with claims relating to an Entrant’s participation in the Competition, the Entrant undertakes to settle any such third party’s claims without the Organiser’s mediation and without undue delay and in a complete manner.
56. The Competition Organiser shall be entitled to definitively exclude an Entrant if it discovers or has reasonable grounds to suspect that such Entrant or any other person has committed any fraudulent or dishonest act or any act contrary to good morals or the Competition Rules, which helped such Entrant to participate in the Competition, which may have influenced the results of the Competition or which helped such Entrant to win the prize money or a diploma in the Competition. This decision of the Organiser is final and cannot be appealed against.
57. Employees of the Organiser and persons closely related to them, i.e., closely related persons within the meaning of Section 22 of the Civil Code, are excluded from participation in the Competition.
58. The costs associated with the application submission and participation in the Competition are borne by the Applicant or Participant, unless otherwise specified by the Organiser. The Organiser shall not reimburse the costs incurred by the Entrants in connection with participation in the official announcement of the results, unless otherwise expressly provided for in these Rules.
59. The Competition Organiser is not responsible or liable for any loss of prize money sent by bank transfer or other means, or for any delay in its delivery. The Competition Organiser is also not responsible or liable for technical problems and failed delivery of applications, if any (or delay in their delivery) including any attachments, and for any problems arising in the transmission of messages by electronic means.
60. The Organiser reserves the right to amend or modify the Competition Rules at any time at its sole discretion. Neither participation in the Competition nor prizes can be claimed by legal means.
61. Persons who do not meet the conditions for participation in the Competition or who act in violation of the Rules shall not be entered into the Competition. In the event that a person is found to have been entered into the Competition for any reason in violation of the preceding sentence who does not meet the eligibility requirements for this Competition, such person shall be excluded from the Competition without compensation. The Competition Organiser reserves the right to check compliance with the conditions for participation in the Competition, to assess entitlement to a reward or prize and the right to make final decisions in disputed cases at its sole discretion. In the event of any disputes or ambiguities relating to the Competition, the final decision rests with the Organiser. Further to the preceding sentence, it is the responsibility of the Applicant or Participant to dispel any doubt as to whether the conditions of the Competition have been met.
62. The prize money (the prize) is quantified in the amount before tax, and before payment to the winning participant it shall be taxed by the Organiser according to the currently applicable legislation of the Czech Republic or according to the legislation of the country in which the winner’s tax obligation will be applied.
63. The Organiser shall pay the prize money by wire transfer to the winner’s bank account, based on the prize money handover record signed by the winner. The payment of the taxed prize money by the Organiser does not extinguish any further tax obligations of the recipient. By participating in the Competition, the Participant declares that he/she has read and understood the conditions of taxation in the event of his/her eventual winning of the Competition and enters the Competition with this knowledge.
64. In the event that the Organiser fails to deliver or otherwise hand over the prize money in accordance with the previously agreed procedure, or if its delivery is connected with unexpected difficulties, the right to receive the prize money shall cease and the prize money shall remain with the Organiser, who is entitled to decide on its further use.
65. The Competition Rules are available on the Organiser’s website and are also stored in written form at the Organiser’s registered office.
66. The Competition Rules are drawn up exclusively in the English and Czech language versions. The English version shall prevail.

INFORMATION ON THE PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA AND CONSENT TO THE USE OF NAME:

1. Personal data processing

By participating in the 17^th Dr. Bares Award, Publication competition organised by PRO.MED.CS Praha a. s, Company Registration Number: 001 47 893 as the Organiser, the Applicant acknowledges that the Organiser shall process the personal data provided by him/her for the purpose of holding the Competition in accordance with these Rules, to the extent of the data provided in the application form and further to the extent of the data on participation in the Competition, the date and time of delivery of the application, the date and time of the Competition registrations, the IP address of the device from which the application was sent, data on the age over 18 years, data on the prize, data on the prize handover, related communications with the Organiser and records of the Participant‘s personality taken by the Organiser.

The personal data shall be used for the purpose of holding the Competition in accordance with these Rules, which includes running, organising and evaluating the Competition, promoting the Competition and handing over the prizes, including their taxation.

In addition, the Applicant can give consent in the registration form to the processing of the personal data provided by him/her for the purposes of sending information and direct marketing to promote the Organiser. This purpose comprises the inclusion of the Applicant’s personal data in the database for direct marketing, the sending of selected commercial messages offering the Organiser’s goods and services by all means including the use of electronic means of remote communication in accordance with the applicable legislation, and the evaluation of the success rate.

The legal title for the processing of personal data of all Applicants within the Competition is the performance of the contract to which the Applicant is a party and the subject-matter of which is the Applicant‘s participation in the Competition according to these Rules. The legal title for the processing of personal data for marketing purposes is the consent of the Applicant. The legal title for the processing of the winners‘ personal data is the fulfilment of a legal obligation that applies to the Organiser.

The time of processing of personal data of all Participants for the purposes of holding the Competition is the Competition duration and, for winners and participants in the Competition award ceremony, also a reasonable period of time after the end of the Competition in connection with the promotion of the Competition under the conditions set out below herein.

The processing time for the purpose of sending information and carrying out direct marketing is indefinite, i.e., until the consent is withdrawn. If the consent is withdrawn, the personal data of the Applicant shall be further processed only to a limited extent for a limited period of three years for the purpose of protecting the rights of the controller (for the purpose of possible control by a supervisory authority, defence against alleged claims, recovery of claims) on the grounds of the legitimate interest of the Organiser.

The personal data of the Competition winners shall also be processed after the end of the Competition to the extent and under the conditions provided for by separate legal regulations in order to comply with the tax and accounting obligations of the Organiser.

The Organiser may make the Applicant’s personal data available to contractually authorised processors involved in organising, holding, evaluating and promoting the Competition. The controller shall take all necessary steps to ensure the accuracy of the data processed and its proper use, and shall take appropriate technical and organisational measures to secure the entire processing.

The Applicant acknowledges that in connection with the processing of personal data described herein, he/she has the right of access to this data, its rectification, restriction of processing and/or deletion and portability of such data. The Participant also has the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority if he/she believes that the processing of his/her personal data violates separate legal regulations. The competent supervisory authority in the Czech Republic is the Office for Personal Data Protection (https://uoou.gov.cz).

The Applicants may at any time withdraw their consent to the processing of personal data for marketing purposes or exercise their rights by contacting the Organiser at PRO.MED.CS Praha a. s., Telčská 377/1, Michle, 140 00 Prague 4 or by e-mail at promed@promedcs.com.

2. Consent to the use of name, surname and personal elements (photos and videos)

The Competition Participant agrees that the Organiser may use the name, surname and state of residence of the winner free of charge in the media (including on the internet), promotional and advertising materials of the Organiser in connection with this Competition.

In the event of his/her participation in the award ceremony, the Competition Participant agrees that the Organiser himself/herself or through an authorised representative (photographer/cameraperson) will capture a record of the Participant’s likeness or other elements and expressions of his/her personality using audio-visual and photographic technology (hereinafter referred to as “Recording”).

The Participant understands and agrees that the Organiser is entitled to use the Recording as needed in any customary manners, including as part of an advertising campaign promoting the Organiser or the Organiser’s products or services. Consent is not limited as to the manner of publication or display (media) or as to the frequency and purpose of display within the scope of this consent. This consent applies to the Organiser as well as to any advertising agency or similar entity to which the Organiser may transfer the rights thus acquired. The above consent is granted by the Participant free of charge. Images and sound recordings are made while preserving the dignity of the persons and environment concerned, in particular for promotional and informational purposes.

The Participant understands and agrees that the Organiser is entitled to make necessary modifications (e.g., editing and other) and retouching to the recording and to use the recording in its original and in such processed form to the extent stated above, even in conjunction/as a set with other copyright works and other elements.

The Participant also understands that the Organiser has the right, but not the obligation, to use the recording. The Organiser also has the right, but not the obligation, to use to a similar extent the name and surname, title and the country of residence of the winner in conjunction with the use of the recording. The Organiser shall also be entitled to use extracts of the winner’s lecture or work in conjunction with his/her recording and the winner’s name for the purposes described above.

The Participant declares that he/she voluntarily gives his/her free consent to the capture, use and publication of the recording for a period of ten years from the end of the Competition, provided that if the consent is not revoked within the aforementioned period, it automatically becomes a consent granted for an indefinite period of time.