TOKYO, July 30 /PRNewswire/ --

- Encouraging Sustainable Development in Asia/Pacific Region

Scopus(R), the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature, today announced that Scopus will launch an award with ProSPER.Net to encourage young researchers and academics in the Asia/Pacific region. The ProSPER.Net/Scopus Young Scientist Award will be given annually to recognize an outstanding young scientist who has made a significant contribution to the area of Sustainable Development.

The award will be given at the ProSPER.Net International Symposium in March 2009 with a specific Business focus. Applications will be evaluated by an international panel of three recognized experts in the discipline. Scopus citation data and the Scopus h-index will be used to provide an objective and transparent measurement of applicants' research performance which will help determine their influence in the discipline.

"The establishment of this award provides an important contribution to the sustainable development of Asia/Pacific by recognizing and promoting the careers of young academics who have the potential to lead progress in this area and inspire others through their example," noted Professor Peter Haddawy, Vice President for Academic Affairs at the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand and Chairman of the Board of ProSPER.Net, "It is also an excellent model of how industry and academia can join hands and work together for the benefit of society."

Inn Beng Lee, Head of Customer Marketing, Asia Pacific, Elsevier remarked, "We have established this capstone award to emphasize the importance of sustainability, and to inspire more scholars to be actively engaged in this arena, which in turn will stimulate the scientific research progress for Sustainable Development across the Asia Pacific region."

About ProSPER.Net

The Promotion of Sustainability in Postgraduate Education and Research Network (ProSPER.Net) is an alliance of several leading higher education institutions in the Asia-Pacific Region that have committed to work together to integrate principles of Sustainable Development (SD) into postgraduate courses and curricula as well as to conduct research on sustainability issues. Member institutions are having strong education and research programs as well as aspiring innovators in SD and related fields. ProSPER.Net is under the auspices of the United Nations University - Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS). For more information about ProSPER.Net please visit http://www.ias.unu.edu/efsd/prospernet

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 is designed and developed with over 500 users and librarians internationally. Its unique database contains abstracts and references from 15,000 peer-reviewed journals from more than 4,000 publishers worldwide, ensuring broad interdisciplinary coverage. In addition, Scopus not only offers users citation information about the articles covered, but also integrates web and patent searches directly from its clean and simple interface. 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://ww.info.scopus.com .

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. Working in partnership with the global science and health communities, Elsevier's 7,000 employees in over 70 offices worldwide publish more than 2,000 journals and 1,900 new books per year, in addition to offering a suite of innovative electronic products, such as ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com/), MD Consult (http://www.mdconsult.com/), Scopus (http://www.info.scopus.com/), bibliographic databases, and online reference works.

Elsevier (http://www.elsevier.com/) is a global business headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and has offices worldwide. Elsevier is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc (http://www.reedelsevier.com/), a world-leading publisher and information provider. Operating in the science and medical, legal, education and business-to-business sectors, Reed Elsevier provides high-quality and flexible information solutions to users, with increasing emphasis on the Internet as a means of delivery. Reed Elsevier's ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

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ProSPER.Net/Scopus Young Scientist Award in Sustainable Development

This award is given annually to recognize an outstanding young scientist who has made significant contributions to the area of Sustainable Development. Because Sustainable Development is quite broad, each year a particular focus area will be chosen. Envisioned focus areas include Environment, Engineering and Technology, Agriculture, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Business. In the first year the award will be given in the area of Business. Applications will be evaluated by an international panel of three recognized academics in the focus area for that year.

Application Process

Candidates may be put forth by nomination or direct application. Nominations and applications must be supported by two letters of recommendation.

Eligibility

The award is open to candidates actively engaged in graduate education and research and employed at institutions in the Asia-Pacific region who are 40 years old or less.

Criteria for Evaluation - Average number of citations per paper and h-index over the past five years - Average number of publications and patents per year over the past five years - Documented societal impact

The Award

The award winner will receive a cash prize, a certificate from ProSPER.Net and Scopus, and r/t airfare and accommodation to attend the award ceremony. The name of the awardee will be broadly announced.

Support from Elsevier

Elsevier, the provider of Scopus will offer financial and publicity support.

Timeline - Establishment of award announced at ProSPER.Net press conference on June 21, 2008 - Application deadline is November 15, 2008 - International selection panel will meet in January/February 2009 - Award to be conferred at ProSPER.Net International Symposium on Integrating Sustainable Development into Business School Curricula in March 2009. Further information will be provided at UNU-IAS website: http://www.ias.unu.edu/efsd/prospernet

Media Contact: Nami Kanda Account Development Manager Elsevier Japan K.K. Tel: +81-3-5561-5069 n.kanda@elsevier.com

Media Contact:, Nami Kanda, Account Development Manager, Elsevier Japan K.K., Tel: +81-3-5561-5069, n.kanda@elsevier.com