Striving for scientific excellence in hand surgery

The research committee of the Federation of European Societies for Surgery of the Hand (FESSH) recently reported the results of a survey on research activities of European hand surgeons (Frueh et al., 2019). The survey of more than 500 hand surgeons identified two common factors limiting the success of academic activity in hand surgery: the lack of dedicated research time (71%) and the lack of funding (48%). To stimulate and facilitate research efforts in hand surgery, the research committee of FESSH initiated a number of research grants, which it aims to award annually. For 2020, four applications were awarded grants totalling €70,000.