Elsevier announces recipients for Innovative Libraries in Developing Countries and New Scholars Programs

$600,000 awarded to projects for the Elsevier Foundation's Innovative Libraries in Developing Countries and New Scholars Programs

The Elsevier Foundation today announced its 2015 grant recipients for the Innovative Libraries in Developing Countries and New Scholars Programs. In total $600.000 has been committed for 2015 that will support various multiyear projects in over 20 countries in the developing world. The Elsevier Foundation is funded by Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services.

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 (STM) information. The 2015 library grant recipients address real developing world issues through the use of STM information resources and include:

• Consumer Health Literacy in African Public Libraries, Network of African Medical Libraries
• Forig Library: Digitization of Indigenous Knowledge in the Forestry Sector in Ghana, CSIR Forestry Research Institute in Ghana
• Librarians Without Borders® E-Library Training Initiative, Librarians Without Borders®/Medical Library Association
• Transforming Scholarly Communication and Academic Production in Eastern DRC, Université Chretienne Bilingue du Congo
• Eye Health Information Impact Grant, SEVA Foundation
• Health Information Research in Uganda, Maria Musoke, Makerere University

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 2015 grants include:

• Career Building Workshops for STEM Women Scientists, Engineering School of Communications of Tunis
• Sustainability and Water Resource Management in the Tropics, University of Florida, University of Hawaii-Manoa, American Society for Microbiology
• West Virginia STEM+ Family Travel Initiative, West Virginia University Foundation on Behalf of West Virginia University
• Physical Anthropologists Women's Initiative, American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA)

"The programs that have been selected for Elsevier Foundation grants this year continue to break new ground in the areas where the Foundation can most make a difference," said David Ruth, Executive Director of the Elsevier Foundation. "Grants will go toward initiatives that will build evidence-based public health information, measure the impact of information on health outcomes, leverage indigenous scientific knowledge to foster economic development, and expand career opportunities for women scientists in regions and areas of science that need them most."