Elsevier announces the winners of Asian Young Women Researcher Awards

- First-Ever Young Women Researcher Awards Ceremony Brings Top Female Scientists in the Region Together for Honors

Elsevier announced today the winners of the Asian Young Women Researcher Awards, a joint development between its flagship product Scopus(R), the world's largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature and the Third World Organisation for Women in Science (TWOWS) and TWAS, the academy of sciences for the developing world.

The awards, first of its kind in Asia, were developed out of a need to nurture women researchers as they move through their career. The ceremony which took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 9 November 2009, presented awards in four major fields of research: Life Sciences, Medicine, Engineering and Technology and Agricultural Sciences.

Subject Category Ranked Name Institutional affiliation Life Science Winner Dr. Le thi National Institute of Quynh Mai Hygiene and Epidemiology, Vietnam Winner Dr. Maria Natural Sciences Research Corazon Institute, University of Abogado De the Philippines, Ungria Philippines Runner-up Prof. Yabin Ningbo University, China Zhu Medicine Winner Dr. Zhejiang University, China Xiangming Fang Runner-up Prof. Leena Mahidol University, Suntornsuk Thailand First Runner-up Dr. Food and Drug Affairs Shekoufeh Deputy, Iranian Ministry of Nikfar Health and Medical Education, Iran Engineering and Winner Prof. Institute of Process Technology Guanghui Ma Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Runner-up Dr. Durga Indian Association for the Basak Cultivation of Science, India First Runner-up Dr. Joongjai Chulalongkorn University, Panpranot Thailand Agriculture and Winner Dr. National University of Science Egamberdieva Uzbekistan Dilfuza Runner-up Prof. Huixia Zhejiang University, China Shou First Runner-up Dr. Wanting Nanjing Agricultural Ling University, China

Scopus' citation data and h-index was used to provide an objective and transparent measure of each applicant's research performance. All partners, TWOWS, TWAS and Elsevier believe that these awards will set an example and spur competition and collaboration among leaders in research, particularly young women researchers within the region and at the global level.

"We are pleased and honored that Elsevier is our partner in this award event, The event is part of our strategy to provide incentives and recognize the contribution of young Asian women in the pursuit of research excellence providing solutions to the region's problems," said Prof Dr. Farida Shah, Chair of organizing committee of the Young Women Researcher Award and Fellow of TWAS. "We hope that this can be incorporated as an annual event. "

"We are proud to be a part of this honor. Supporting and advancing women in science is also major objective of the Elsevier Foundation's New Scholars program and the Young Women Researcher Awards in Asia supports this critical pledge, said Inn Beng Lee, Head Customer Engagement and Development (APAC) Elsevier Science & Technology. "Each award recipient carries and exemplifies the goals of the participating organizations to elevate research excellence."

In addition to the 2009 Scopus Young Women Researcher in Asia award, the Elsevier Foundation (http://www.elsevierfoundation.org/) recently announced a $72,320 grant to broaden the 2010 reach of TWOWS' Women Scientists in the Developing World Awards. The Elsevier Foundation New Scholar's program supports women scholars during the early stages of their demanding careers in science and technology. The New Scholars grant adds discipline-specific prizes to TWOWS' existing 2010 awards for one young woman scientist in each of the four regions of the developing world (Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East). A total of three $5,000 prizes per region in biological sciences, chemical sciences, and the physical and mathematical sciences will ensure that talented young women scientists in developing countries are recognized for excellence within their own disciplines.

SOURCE Elsevier B.V. and A&G Products Group