Goldenes Brett


The award Das Goldene Brett vorm Kopf is a negative prize awarded by the Society for the Scientific Investigation of Parasciences. The prize is organised by the Viennese regional group, the Society for Critical Thinking. The jury considers the "most astonishing pseudo-scientific nuisance" of the year in German-speaking countries. The award was presented for the first time in 2011 during the Sceptics Conference in Vienna. In 2016, the prize was presented simultaneously for the first time in Vienna and Hamburg.

Process

Candidates are nominated via a form. A jury of experts selects the three top candidates among the nominees. The assessment is based on the following: degree of deviance, resistance to criticism, commercial interest, radius of action, pseudoscience, and hazard potential. In the course of a public award ceremony, three candidates are presented by a eulogist in an ironic speech. The three candidates can comment on their nomination. Thereafter the winner is announced, and they are given a golden statue with a board in front of the head and have the option of making an acceptance speech. In 2012, the jury of experts included Heinz Oberhummer, Werner Gruber, Johannes Grenzfurthner and the eulogists Mario Sixtus, El Awadalla and Niko Alm.
In 2012, an additional "lifetime achievement prize" was awarded for the first time. This prize recognizes a person who, according to the jury, "made a name with particularly impressive resistance to scientific facts over decades".
The award was granted in 2012 by the Austrian Consumer Information Consortium and since 2013 by the German Consumers' Union. The Austrian branch of the Cochrane Collaboration was a cooperation partner in 2015.

Winners and nominees

Media recognition

Media recognition ranges from numerous mentions in the blogosphere, such as ScienceBlogs to Austrian media such as Der Standard Die Presse, ORF, NEWS, Heute and Vice.