The Elsevier Foundation announced today the 2012 grant recipients for the Innovative Libraries in Developing Countries and New Scholars award programs. In total, $650,000 has been committed to eight institutions around the world in addition to five ongoing multiyear grants and the Nurse Faculty program. The Elsevier Foundation is funded by Elsevier, a global provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services.
“The Elsevier Foundation supports projects for their potential to serve as a model with lasting impact on our health and science communities,” said David Ruth, Executive Director of the Elsevier Foundation and Senior Vice President Global Communications, Elsevier. “This year, we’ve chosen compelling proposals which address information literacy, research capacity building, women scientists’ professional development and stemming postdoc attrition.”
Innovative Libraries
The Innovative Libraries in Developing Countries program awards grants to libraries for innovation in improving access and use of scientific, technical and medical information. The 2012 library grant recipients address real developing world issues through the use of STM information resources and include:
E-Library Training Initiative in Latin America & Asia, MLA/Librarians Without Borders
Enhancing Access to Research in Central and West Africa, Information Training & Outreach Centre for Africa, ITOCA
Strengthening evidenced based healthcare in Tanzania, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Tanzania
Nepal Knowledge Nexus, Dhulikhel Hospital
“The Elsevier Foundation grant will enable us to address the critical need for capacity building and information literacy to boost Africa’s participation in the global research community,” said Gracian Chimwaza, Executive Director, Information Training & Outreach Centre for Africa (ITOCA), “Making research available is one step—another vital step is ensuring that we help build researchers’ information literacy skills. This will ensure that this critical knowledge-sharing process is ultimately sustainable. Our project will empower the research community from this region to also contribute and share their innovations and research with the rest of the world.”
New Scholars
The New Scholars Program supports projects to help early- to mid-career women scientists balance family responsibilities with demanding academic careers and addresses the attrition rate of talented women scientists. The 2012 grants include:
The National Postdoc-Societies Collaboration to Boost Retention of Women Postdocs National Postdoctoral Association
National Assessments in Gender and Science, Technology and Innovation, Women in Global Science and Technology (WISAT)
The Appalachian Women Scientists program, Appalachian State University
The Elsevier Foundation Awards for Early Career Women Scientists in the Developing World, TWAS and OWSD
“The postdoctoral position is a critical transition point when the numbers of women researchers decline significantly,” noted Cathee Johnson Phillips, Executive Director of the National Postdoctoral Association. “The National Postdoctoral Association has been working to provide resources that foster the academic career advancement of women postdocs, and with the generous support of the Elsevier Foundation, we will be able to build on that effort with professional societies and associations.”
In 2012, the Elsevier Foundation’s Nurse Faculty Program continued to support a multiyear grant to Sigma Theta Tau International Foundation for Nursing to develop an 18 month leadership academy and alleviate the nursing faculty shortage through retaining and transitioning new nurse educators to the faculty role.
