Jan 10, 2012 4:00 AM CST

Amsterdam, January 10, 2012 – The Elsevier Foundation announced today the 2011 grant recipients for the Innovative Libraries in Developing Countries and New Scholars award programs. In total, $650,000 has been committed to nine institutions around the world in addition to seven 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, 

“Each of the diverse projects supported by the Elsevier Foundation has the potential for an immediate and enduring impact on our health and science communities,” said David Ruth, Executive Director of the Elsevier Foundation and Senior Vice President Global Communications, Elsevier.  “We welcome the chance to support these organizations’ efforts to foster new ways to leverage science and health information for development and to facilitate career development in STM fields.” 

The Innovative Libraries in Developing Countries program awards grants to libraries for innovation in improving access and use of scientific, technical and medical information. Past projects include: expanding information resources through digitization and knowledge preservation; training and education for librarians and researchers, and developed-developing world partnerships providing longer term technical assistance and training.  

The 2011 library grant recipients address real developing world issues through the use of STM information resources and include: 

"With access to scientific information revolutionized in the Global South through diverse access initiatives, embedding the daily use of high quality peer reviewed journals within universities, remains the key challenge," said Jan Donner, President of the Royal Tropical Institute in the Netherlands (KIT). "The Elsevier Foundation's library grants are so important because they emphasize the critical role that librarians play in supporting researchers, doctors and nurses in implementing evidence based work.”    

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. Recent grants have promoted institutional research, advocacy, and policy development to retain, recruit and develop women in science and have enabled researchers to attend conferences critical to their careers by assisting with childcare, mentorship and networking.   

The 2011 grants include   

 "The attrition of top talent from the scientific workforce severely hampers countries’ ability to lead in innovation and stay globally competitive in these disciplines,” said Janet Bandows Koster, Executive Director & CEO of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS). “We know that professional women with the skills needed for successful careers in these fields are available, yet often choose to leave the workforce because of outmoded institutional structures. The New Scholars program has been integral to exploring innovative approaches for a more family friendly academia.  We look forward to working with the program to spearhead a fresh, forward-looking dialogue with global thought leaders."

In 2011, the Elsevier Foundation’s Nurse Faculty Program also awarded 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.