Prize rules and conditions

General

The Prize is organised by the Trustees of The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation, whose registered address is at 3 Carlton House Terrace London SW1Y 5DG, or such other successor charitable entity as may be set up to run the Prize and is notified to the nominees via the Prize website (the “Trustees”).

The Trustees will run the competition for the Prize every two years. The first Prize will be presented in Spring 2013 at a ceremony in London, UK.

The Trustees will be advised by an international judging panel established by the Trustees (the “Judging Panel”) solely for the purposes of judging the Prize.

By entering for consideration for the Prize, candidates will be deemed to have accepted and agreed to be bound by these Rules and Conditions.

Qualifying candidates

Entry to the Prize is open to:

any living individual (or not more than three living individuals working as a team);

of any nationality;

who is personally responsible for a ground-breaking innovation in engineering which has been of global benefit to humanity.

The Prize

The winning candidate/s will be awarded:

a total cash prize of £1 million (one million GBP); and

appropriate memorabilia to be decided by the Trustees in their sole discretion.

(the “Prize”).

In the event that the Prize is received by more than one individual (but not more than three individuals, as above) collaborating under a single nomination, the Prize money will be shared between the winning candidates as determined by the Trustees in their sole discretion on the advice of the Judging Panel.

Publicity and further activities

By entering to be considered for the Prize, candidates commit to:

the use of their name, image, reputation and the content of their nomination for those publicity purposes connected with the Prize as the Trustees shall reasonably require (including, but not limited to, the nominee appearing in photography, film and print media);

taking a leading role in such related activities should their nomination be selected to win the Prize (which may include, but not be limited to, giving lectures and presentations);

continuing to support the Prize in subsequent years by any means that the Trustees may reasonably request; and

complying with the Trustees’ reasonable instructions in relation to such publicity activities from time to time.

Method of entry

To enter to be considered for the Prize, candidates must be nominated using the official nomination form (the “Nomination Form”) available on the Prize website at www.qeprize.org.

It is preferable that candidates use the on-line Nomination Form, however if you do not have internet access, you can request a Nomination Form from the QEPrize team at this address: QEPrize Nominations, Royal Academy of Engineering, 3 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5DG.

Self nomination is not permitted. Nominations must be made by nominators able to satisfy the requirements set out on the Nominations Form. The Trustees reserve the right to reject any nomination where, in their reasonable opinion, there is or is likely to be a conflict of interest between the nominees, nominators or any referees and any other nomination or the Prize more generally.

Nominators and candidates are responsible for ensuring that all the required information is provided for the entry, taking particular account of the requirement for at least two supporting letters from suitable referees, who are distinguished people not employed in the same organisation as the candidate, not the nominee's collaborators, who are not part of the nominee’s immediate family and whose reference is correct to the best of the referee’s knowledge.

(Note: A distinguished person is a recognised expert in the relevant field with a profile in the academic or corporate world, as demonstrated by their publication record and/or international recognition. They must be very familiar with the technical detail and significance of the work of the nominee and able to speak with authority about the nature and impact of the innovation.)

Incomplete nominations, including those without references, or nominations submitted after the closing date will not be considered.

Nominations are preferred on the website, in English. If you do not have access to the internet your nomination can be typewritten on the nominations form in English and in a font not smaller than 11pt. Copies of the nomination form can be requested by post from the QE Prize team at Royal Academy of Engineering, 3 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5DG. Nominations must not exceed the character limits detailed on the form (2500 characters or approx. 400 words for each criterion).

By entering to be considered for the Prize, candidates warrant that all information submitted to the Trustees both in the Nomination Form and otherwise is true, current and complete. The Trustees reserve the right to verify the eligibility of all entrants.

By entering to be considered for the Prize, candidates agree to comply with the Trustees’ reasonable instructions and requirements in connection thereto and supply any such additional information as the Trustees may require for verification purposes.

If at any time the Trustees become aware that a candidate’s work in connection with their nomination infringes or is alleged to infringe the proprietary rights of a third party (in the Trustees’ sole opinion, acting reasonably), then such work may be excluded from the Prize selection process at the Trustees’ sole discretion and no further correspondence will be entered into by the Trustees in connection with the same. The same shall apply even after the selection process has finished.

Start and closing date

NOMINATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED FROM 28 FEBRUARY 2012. THE CLOSING DATE FOR RECEIPT OF NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2013 PRIZE IS 17.00 GMT ON 14 SEPTEMBER 2012.

All nominations must be received by the closing date to be considered for selection to win the Prize. Responsibility cannot be accepted for entries lost, damaged, or delayed in transit or submission to the Trustees.

Selection process

A selection of nominations will be short-listed by the Judging Panel for final consideration. The winning nomination will be chosen by the Trustees, advised by the Judging Panel.

All candidates and their nominators are deemed to accept that decisions of the Trustees are final in connection with the Prize and the Trustees shall have absolute discretion as to whether an entry is to be short-listed to win or selected to win the Prize from the short-list.

No correspondence or feedback will be entered into with candidates relating to the opinions or decisions of the Judging Panel or the Trustees in relation to the Prize.

Announcement of the winning nomination

The winning nomination will be announced on such a date as the Trustees may choose and such date shall be published on the Prize website with a view to the winning candidate/s participating fully in all related activities.

The winning candidate/s shall be notified in writing and the winning candidate/s shall be expected to attend the prize-giving ceremony in London.

The Trustees would like to notify unsuccessful candidates, however this may not be possible in all instances.

Nominations will not be returned to the candidates. The Trustees recommend that candidates make a copy of their nomination before submitting for consideration for the Prize.

Liability

IMPORTANT NOTICE - PLEASE NOTE:PROTECTION OF ANY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN ANY CONTENT SUBMITTED AS PART OF A NOMINATION IS THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE OWNER OF SUCH RIGHTS. THE TRUSTEES RECOMMEND THAT NO NOMINATION IS MADE BEFORE THE PROTECTION OF ANY SUCH RIGHTS HAS BEEN CONSIDERED. ALL NOMINATIONS ARE MADE AT THE CANDIDATE’S OWN RISK IN THIS RESPECT AND IN SUBMITTING A NOMINATION THE CANDIDATE AGREES TO RELEASE THE TRUSTEES, THE JUDGING PANEL, THE QUEEN ELIZABETH PRIZE FOR ENGINEERING FOUNDATION, ITS EMPLOYEES (AND ALL OTHER CONNECTED PERSONS) FROM ANY LIABILITY RELATING TO INFRINGEMENT (WHETHER ACTUAL OR THREATENED) OF ANY SUCH RIGHTS BY A THIRD PARTY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.

The nominators and the candidates shall be responsible in full for the content of the nominations and the entries and the Trustees disclaim any liabilities in respect of such content.

Given that The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation is a charity, in submitting a nomination to be considered for the Prize, candidates and the nominators agree fully to indemnify the Trustees, the Judging Panel, the Nomination Search Group, The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation, its employees (and all other connected persons) in respect of all actions, claims, costs, damages, demands, expenses, fines, liabilities, losses, penalties, sanctions, amounts paid in settlement, out of pocket expenses, interest, penalties, and all legal and other professional costs and expenses that may be incurred by any of them in respect of any claims that the nomination and the content that it contains infringes the proprietary rights of a third party.