Last month, PhD Candidate Rald Groven won a prize for his column for the German Society for Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery. In the column Rald described the combination of scientific work with clinical work. ‘In my view, science broadens your frame of reference as a clinician, and allows you to be on the developmental forefront of your field’ Rald elaborates. The column will be published in the next issue of journal Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie: mitteilungen und nachrichten.