14 December 2016 was the deadline for participation in the 2017 ESWI Best Body of Work Award competition. No less than 19 young scientists have entered the competition and from these entries one award winner will receive a cash award of €10,000 and an invitation to present at the Sixth ESWI Influenza Conference (Riga, September 2017). Eight renowned influenza scientists have agreed to lend their name and expertise to the award and to evaluate the applications:

• Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA
• Yoshi Kawaoka, University of Wisconsin, USA
• Hans-Dieter Klenk , Marburg University, Germany
• Jonathan Yewdell, Laboratory of Viral Diseases, NIAID, USA
• Larisa Rudenko, Saint Petersburg Institute of Experimental Medicine, Russia
• Ron Fouchier, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, The Netherlands
• David Swayne, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Janet McElhaney, Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Canada

This Evaluation Committee is currently assessing the submitted applications. The award winner will be announced on 1 February 2017.