SINGAPORE, February 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Elsevier announced today the start of the second annual ProSPER.Net-Scopus Young Researcher Award in sustainable development, a partnership between its flagship product SCOPUS, the world's largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature and ProSPER.Net, a network of nineteen leading universities in Asia-Pacific. The top three finalists in each category will be sponsored to present their work in a public symposium to be held the first week of July 2010 at Tongji University in Shanghai. Winners will be announced at the symposium and receive a cash award. In addition, this year, the International Bureau of the German Ministry of Education will offer a fellowship to the winners.

The award will be presented in July 2010 and is open to those involved in graduate education and research activities that emphasize sustainable development in the areas of Energy, Water, Agriculture Food Security, and Economics, Business, Management. In order to qualify, candidates for the award are expected to be employed at institutions of higher education in the Asia-Pacific region and should be younger than 40 years of age as of 1 July 2010. To apply visit: http://asia.elsevier.com/prospernet2010

The need to nurture and promote young researchers as they progress through their career has long been recognized by academic institutions for its effect on scientific development. Elsevier being the world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information sees the importance in supporting and promoting scientific excellence in sustainable development which provided the impetus for creating the award. All partners believe that awards such as these will provide the right incentive to get leaders in research and create awareness for young researchers in sustainable development.

We are honored to present this award in sustainable development for a second year with ProSPER.NET, said Lim Kok Keng, Director, Sales Marketing APAC, Elsevier. The significant contributions by early career researchers in Asia-Pacific in the areas of Energy, Water, Agriculture Food Security and Economics, Business Management should be acknowledged and our support for this award is consistent to our goal of making a genuine contribution to science.

We are proud to be a part of an award that recognizes researchers in the development process and promoting scientific and technological leadership, said Professor Peter Haddawy, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Asian Institute of Technology and the current Chair of the Board of ProSPER.Net Our strong emphasis in promoting science and research excellence in sustainable development and acknowledging the role of young researcher is crucial to the advancement of the scientific progress in the region.

About ProSPER.Net

The network for the Promotion of Sustainability in Postgraduate Education and Research (ProSPER.Net) is a network of several leading higher education institutions in Asia and the Pacific that have committed to work together to integrate Sustainable Development into postgraduate courses and curricula. Member institutions involved have strong education and research programs in sustainable development and related fields. http://www.ias.unu.edu/efsd/prospernet

About the International Bureau of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research

The International Bureau supports the Scopus and ProSPER.Net Young Scientist Award in Sustainable Development by providing a fellowship to the award winners. The fellowship consists of the financing of a research stay in a German institution. The aim is to give the awardees the opportunity to get an insight into the research system in Germany and to create contacts with institutions and organizations in Germany in their respective field of research.

The International Bureau has been commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) to strengthen the international ties of German universities, research institutes and enterprises with the ultimate goal of building competencies and fostering competitive advantages for industry and the research community in Germany in the areas of research and innovation. In doing so, the International Bureau is making an important contribution to cultivating an international dimension within the research programmes of the BMBF.

About Asian Institute of Technology

The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) promotes technological change and sustainable development in the Asian-Pacific region through higher education, research and outreach. Established in Bangkok in 1959, AIT has become a leading regional postgraduate institution and is actively working with public and private sector partners throughout the region and with some of the top universities in the world. AIT mission is to develop highly qualified and committed professionals who play leading roles in the region's sustainable development and its integration into the global economy. http://www.ait.ac.th/about

About Tongji University

Tongji University is one of the leading universities directly under the Ministry of Education of China. It offers degree programs both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The university has Colleges of Sciences, Architecture and Urban Planning, Civil Engineering, Economics and Management, Environmental Science and Engineering, Material Science and Engineering, Traffic and Transportation Engineering, and Automotive Engineering etc. http://www.tongji.edu.cn/english/abouttongji/About.asp

About Scopus

Covering the world's research literature, Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature and quality Web sources with smart tools to track analyze and visualize research. Scopus was designed and developed with over 500 users and librarians internationally. Its unique database contains abstracts and references from nearly 18,000 titles from more than 5,000 international publishers, ensuring broad interdisciplinary coverage. In addition, Scopus not only offers users citation information about the articles covered, but also directly integrates Web and patent searches. Direct links to full-text articles, library resources and other applications like reference management software, make Scopus quicker, easier and more comprehensive to use than any other literature research tool. For more information about Scopus please visit http://www.info.scopus.com.

In October 2008, the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) announced it would use Scopus Custom Data for its research, analysis and benchmarking work due to its broad international coverage, clean flexible data and advanced features. Australian Research Council (ARC) selected Scopus to provide citation information for the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative Cluster One evaluation. And of the top fifty universities, as ranked by Time Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, 50% of them depend on Scopus and the percentage increases each year.

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet (http://www.thelancet.com) and Cell (http://www.cell.com), and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com), Scopus (http://www.scopus.com), Reaxys (http://www.reaxys.com), MD Consult (http://www.mdconsult.com) and Nursing Consult (http://www.nursingconsult.com), which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite (http://www.scival.com) and MEDai's Pinpoint Review (http://www.medai.com), which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier ( http://www.elsevier.com) employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC (http://www.reedelsevier.com), a world-leading publisher and information provider, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

Name: Linda Kwok Phone: +65-6349-0206 E-mail: l.kwok@elsevier.com

SOURCE: Elsevier

CONTACT: Name: Linda Kwok, Phone: +65-6349-0206, E-mail:l.kwok@elsevier.com