Elsevier Foundation 2011 grants for women in science and libraries in developing countries

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Contact: Ylann Schemm
foundation@elsevier.com
31-204-852-025
Elsevier

$650,000 awarded to Innovative Libraries, New Scholars and Nurse Faculty programs

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."

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 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:

  • A Solution in Sight: Eight Developing Country Resource Centers Improve Access to the World's Ophthalmic Information, Seva Foundation, US
  • Strengthening Agricultural Researchers and Extension Staff's Skills for Access to, Use and sharing of Agricultural Information Resources in Tanzania, Sokoine National Agricultural Library, Tanzania
  • Collaboration for Evidence Based Healthcare, Library Training, Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), Netherlands
  • Nuclear Claims Tribunal Records Preservation, Nuclear Claims Tribunal, Republic of the Marshall Island
  • Improving Library Resource Sharing Through the Union Catalogue Among Laos Libraries Central Library, National University of Laos, Laos

"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."

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. 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:

  • Scenario Toolkit for Advancing Careers in Science, Portia Ltd (EU)
  • STEM CIC Writing Retreat Board of Regents, University of Nebraska, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, US
  • Get Ahead with Optics: Career Development for Women in Science, University of Carthage, Engineering School of Communications, Tunisia
  • Rethinking the Future of the STEM Workforce: Best Practices in Work-Life Effectiveness, Association of Women in Science, US

"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.

###

About The Elsevier Foundation

The Elsevier Foundation is a corporate charity funded by Elsevier, a global provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The Elsevier Foundation provides grants to knowledge centered institutions around the world, with a focus on developing world libraries, nurse faculty and scholars in the early stages of their careers. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than 60 grants worth millions of dollars to non-profit organizations working in these fields. Through gift-matching, the Foundation also supports the efforts of Elsevier employees to play a positive role in their local and global communities. www.elsevierfoundation.org

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading provider 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 and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include SciVerse ScienceDirect, SciVerse Scopus, Reaxys, MD Consult and Nursing Consult, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai's Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, 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).

Media contact
Ylann Schemm
Corporate Relations, Elsevier
+31 (0) 20 485 2025
foundation@elsevier.com

Elsevier Foundation 2011 Innovative Libraries in Developing Countries Grant Awards

A Solution in Sight: Eight Developing Country Resource Centers Improve Access to the World's Ophthalmic Information, Seva Foundation,US

80% of the world's blindness is avoidable through treatment or prevention. The WHO's Vision 2020: the Right to Sight campaign targets curable blindness in their global campaign to impact vision loss. The Seva Foundation has proposed a compelling project aimed at benefiting hundreds of eye hospitals that lack organized resource centers and trained librarians. Eight collaborating resource centers in major recognized eye care institutions: Al Noor Magrabi Foundation in Egypt; Visualiza in Guatemala; Aravind Eye Care System, LV Prasad Eye Institute, Sadguru Netra Chikitsalaya, & Vivekananda Mission Asram Netra Niramay Niketan in India; Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Ophthalmology in Tanzania; and Lumbini Eye Institute in Nepal will work with the Seva Foundation and the Association of Vision Science Librarians (AVSL) to provide training, mentoring, and tool development to significantly enhance the librarians' ability to make relevant scientific, technical, and medical information available to eye doctors and health care workers locally, regionally, and globally.

Strengthening Agricultural Researchers and Extension Staff's Skills for Access to, Use and Sharing of Agricultural Information Resources in Tanzania, Sokoine National Agricultural Library, Tanzania

While information and communication technologies have become more widely available in many developing countries, the skills needed to take full advantage of e-resources are still under-developed. The work of agricultural researchers and extension staff, who play a central role in economic development, is significantly enhanced by tailored training in the search, use and sharing of the information that is now accessible through these technologies. Sokoine National Agricultural Library, a university and national library with a mandate to disseminate agricultural information to Tanzania's diverse stakeholders, has developed a project with the potential for major impact on food production and security. It will strengthen the agricultural network within the country and will specifically target farmers--the most challenging link in the information literacy chain.

Collaboration for Evidence Based Healthcare, Library Training, Royal Tropical Institute

Evidence Based Health Care or Medicine (EBHC) is major priority in medical faculties, schools of public health, national ministries in wealthier countries and in the WHO. This project focuses on the key role played by information specialists in the practice and implementation of EBHC in the developing world. Medical doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers across eight African countries will be taught the skills of searching and retrieving, evaluating and implementing medical literature and evidence into clinical and public health to improve patient care. Courses will be conducted in medical schools, schools of public health and libraries in Ethiopia, Burundi, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, with a continuously growing group of partners. The project is driven by the Royal Tropical Institute in the Netherlands (KIT), the central partner in the Collaboration for Evidence Based Healthcare in Africa (CEBHA), a network of faculties of medicine, schools of public health, ministries and NGOs that support an African healthcare system based on informed and evidence-based decisions. CEBHA will also provide the expertise to adapt the program to issues that are commonly found in the developing world such as feasibility, limited resources, medication compliance issues and alternative and complementary medicine.

Nuclear Claims Tribunal Records Preservation, Nuclear Claims Tribunal

On March 1st 1954, Bravo, the most powerful nuclear bomb ever tested by the US government, was detonated in the Marshall Islands. One thousand times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb, it led to significant radiological contamination and international concern about atmospheric thermonuclear testing which continued in the Islands for another four years. With a grant from the Elsevier Foundation this project will preserve the library of the Nuclear Claims Tribunal in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The Tribunal was established in 1987 as part of a settlement agreement between RMI and the US government. It gave the Tribunal exclusive jurisdiction to settle all claims arising from the Nuclear Testing Program. The library contains unique holdings with hundreds of scientific and medical reports, papers, articles and other documents relating to the nuclear weapons testing program conducted in the Marshall Islands from 1946 to 1958. The goals of the proposed project are to organize, stabilize, and digitize the library holdings and official files of the Tribunal in order to ensure that those records can be made available to future researchers, students, decision-makers, and other interested parties.

Improving Library Resource Sharing Through the Union Catalogue among Laotian Libraries, Central Library, National University of Laos, Laos

With a grant from the Elsevier Foundation, the National University of Laos will provide the Laos Library and Information Consortium (LALIC) with a unified and comprehensive open source digital library information system to increase library staff and users' access to scientific, technical, and medical information and materials. Researchers from across the 20 member library consortium will be able to access one search engine that compiles all metadata from the library collections' network and electronic databases; access library collections across member libraries; and specifies the location (e.g., university, library) to access publications.

The Elsevier Foundation 2011 New Scholars Grant Awards

Scenario Toolkit for Advancing Careers in Science, Portia Ltd (EU)

The European Commission's recent public consultation on strengthening the role of women in science yielded professional development feedback: the need for career models and pathways; balancing career aspirations and family responsibilities; childcare issues and costs, mobility, dual career couples, and returning after career breaks. The Scenario Toolkit for Advancing Careers in Science targets this call to action to help European women scientists navigate the complex relationships between events and decisions that shape a scientist's professional development through the doctoral and postdoc stages. Portia, a UK-based non-profit, will pilot the scenario method through workshops delivered with two partners; the Technical University Berlin and Tel Aviv University. Portia's scenario toolkit moves beyond traditional mentorship to provide an innovative new strategy for improving the career success of female scientists and engineers.

STEM CIC Writing Retreat, University of Nebraska, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, US

With a grant from the Elsevier Foundation, the University of Nebraska aims to retain women scientists by improving research productivity and promoting critical networks through a model STEM writing retreat. A week-long, multi-disciplinary, multi-rank writing retreat at the University of Nebraska (UNL) will be offered to STEM faculty across the "Big 10" universities. With a concerted focus on writing success and social connections, this program has the potential to serve as a model that can be easily replicated across institutions and disciplines to help retain STEM women in academia.

Get Ahead with Optics: Career Development for Women in Science, University of Carthage, Engineering School of Communications, Tunisia

Over the last years, optics research has become an indispensable part of daily life. Fiber optics for telecoms, medical imaging and cancer research, optical parts in cars, computer and 3D screens are at the core of the world's technical infrastructure. This interdisciplinary proposal from Tunisia aims to orient young women scientists in the dynamic and rapidly evolving field of optics and photonics while providing them with professional development skills and a deeper understanding of what is needed to succeed as a woman scientist. The ten day summer school in optics is a partnership between the University of Carthage's Engineering School of Communications, Tunisia and Philipps University from Marburg, Germany and offers recent Tunisian and German graduate students with scientific orientation, career coaching and international exchange to lay the groundwork for a successful scientific career.

Rethinking the Future of the STEM Workforce: Best Practices in Work-Life Effectiveness, Association of Women in Science, US

While women comprise roughly half the US work force, they hold just 24% of STEM jobs according the Department of Commerce. Whether the root causes lie in a lack of female role models, gender stereotyping, or a lack of family friendly flexibility, the resulting attrition in the academic pipeline means that the US is halving its potential for innovation. The Elsevier Foundation New Scholars program has focused on the holistic, work-life dimension of the STEM workplace including dependent care, dual career relationships, mentoring and travel to professional meetings. The Association of Women in Science (AWIS) will collaborate with the New Scholars program to leverage best practice testimony to impel systemic change in the global STEM workplace. Through an international work-life satisfaction survey and a New Scholars Roundtable, AWIS aims distill recommendations into a report that will serve as an action plan to help employers, working women, and policymakers identify, create and sustain systemic changes.


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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 10-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Ylann Schemm
foundation@elsevier.com
31-204-852-025
Elsevier

$650,000 awarded to Innovative Libraries, New Scholars and Nurse Faculty programs

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."

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 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:

  • A Solution in Sight: Eight Developing Country Resource Centers Improve Access to the World's Ophthalmic Information, Seva Foundation, US
  • Strengthening Agricultural Researchers and Extension Staff's Skills for Access to, Use and sharing of Agricultural Information Resources in Tanzania, Sokoine National Agricultural Library, Tanzania
  • Collaboration for Evidence Based Healthcare, Library Training, Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), Netherlands
  • Nuclear Claims Tribunal Records Preservation, Nuclear Claims Tribunal, Republic of the Marshall Island
  • Improving Library Resource Sharing Through the Union Catalogue Among Laos Libraries Central Library, National University of Laos, Laos

"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."

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. 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:

  • Scenario Toolkit for Advancing Careers in Science, Portia Ltd (EU)
  • STEM CIC Writing Retreat Board of Regents, University of Nebraska, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, US
  • Get Ahead with Optics: Career Development for Women in Science, University of Carthage, Engineering School of Communications, Tunisia
  • Rethinking the Future of the STEM Workforce: Best Practices in Work-Life Effectiveness, Association of Women in Science, US

"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.

###

About The Elsevier Foundation

The Elsevier Foundation is a corporate charity funded by Elsevier, a global provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The Elsevier Foundation provides grants to knowledge centered institutions around the world, with a focus on developing world libraries, nurse faculty and scholars in the early stages of their careers. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than 60 grants worth millions of dollars to non-profit organizations working in these fields. Through gift-matching, the Foundation also supports the efforts of Elsevier employees to play a positive role in their local and global communities. www.elsevierfoundation.org

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading provider 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 and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include SciVerse ScienceDirect, SciVerse Scopus, Reaxys, MD Consult and Nursing Consult, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai's Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, 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).

Media contact
Ylann Schemm
Corporate Relations, Elsevier
+31 (0) 20 485 2025
foundation@elsevier.com

Elsevier Foundation 2011 Innovative Libraries in Developing Countries Grant Awards

A Solution in Sight: Eight Developing Country Resource Centers Improve Access to the World's Ophthalmic Information, Seva Foundation,US

80% of the world's blindness is avoidable through treatment or prevention. The WHO's Vision 2020: the Right to Sight campaign targets curable blindness in their global campaign to impact vision loss. The Seva Foundation has proposed a compelling project aimed at benefiting hundreds of eye hospitals that lack organized resource centers and trained librarians. Eight collaborating resource centers in major recognized eye care institutions: Al Noor Magrabi Foundation in Egypt; Visualiza in Guatemala; Aravind Eye Care System, LV Prasad Eye Institute, Sadguru Netra Chikitsalaya, & Vivekananda Mission Asram Netra Niramay Niketan in India; Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Ophthalmology in Tanzania; and Lumbini Eye Institute in Nepal will work with the Seva Foundation and the Association of Vision Science Librarians (AVSL) to provide training, mentoring, and tool development to significantly enhance the librarians' ability to make relevant scientific, technical, and medical information available to eye doctors and health care workers locally, regionally, and globally.

Strengthening Agricultural Researchers and Extension Staff's Skills for Access to, Use and Sharing of Agricultural Information Resources in Tanzania, Sokoine National Agricultural Library, Tanzania

While information and communication technologies have become more widely available in many developing countries, the skills needed to take full advantage of e-resources are still under-developed. The work of agricultural researchers and extension staff, who play a central role in economic development, is significantly enhanced by tailored training in the search, use and sharing of the information that is now accessible through these technologies. Sokoine National Agricultural Library, a university and national library with a mandate to disseminate agricultural information to Tanzania's diverse stakeholders, has developed a project with the potential for major impact on food production and security. It will strengthen the agricultural network within the country and will specifically target farmers--the most challenging link in the information literacy chain.

Collaboration for Evidence Based Healthcare, Library Training, Royal Tropical Institute

Evidence Based Health Care or Medicine (EBHC) is major priority in medical faculties, schools of public health, national ministries in wealthier countries and in the WHO. This project focuses on the key role played by information specialists in the practice and implementation of EBHC in the developing world. Medical doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers across eight African countries will be taught the skills of searching and retrieving, evaluating and implementing medical literature and evidence into clinical and public health to improve patient care. Courses will be conducted in medical schools, schools of public health and libraries in Ethiopia, Burundi, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, with a continuously growing group of partners. The project is driven by the Royal Tropical Institute in the Netherlands (KIT), the central partner in the Collaboration for Evidence Based Healthcare in Africa (CEBHA), a network of faculties of medicine, schools of public health, ministries and NGOs that support an African healthcare system based on informed and evidence-based decisions. CEBHA will also provide the expertise to adapt the program to issues that are commonly found in the developing world such as feasibility, limited resources, medication compliance issues and alternative and complementary medicine.

Nuclear Claims Tribunal Records Preservation, Nuclear Claims Tribunal

On March 1st 1954, Bravo, the most powerful nuclear bomb ever tested by the US government, was detonated in the Marshall Islands. One thousand times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb, it led to significant radiological contamination and international concern about atmospheric thermonuclear testing which continued in the Islands for another four years. With a grant from the Elsevier Foundation this project will preserve the library of the Nuclear Claims Tribunal in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The Tribunal was established in 1987 as part of a settlement agreement between RMI and the US government. It gave the Tribunal exclusive jurisdiction to settle all claims arising from the Nuclear Testing Program. The library contains unique holdings with hundreds of scientific and medical reports, papers, articles and other documents relating to the nuclear weapons testing program conducted in the Marshall Islands from 1946 to 1958. The goals of the proposed project are to organize, stabilize, and digitize the library holdings and official files of the Tribunal in order to ensure that those records can be made available to future researchers, students, decision-makers, and other interested parties.

Improving Library Resource Sharing Through the Union Catalogue among Laotian Libraries, Central Library, National University of Laos, Laos

With a grant from the Elsevier Foundation, the National University of Laos will provide the Laos Library and Information Consortium (LALIC) with a unified and comprehensive open source digital library information system to increase library staff and users' access to scientific, technical, and medical information and materials. Researchers from across the 20 member library consortium will be able to access one search engine that compiles all metadata from the library collections' network and electronic databases; access library collections across member libraries; and specifies the location (e.g., university, library) to access publications.

The Elsevier Foundation 2011 New Scholars Grant Awards

Scenario Toolkit for Advancing Careers in Science, Portia Ltd (EU)

The European Commission's recent public consultation on strengthening the role of women in science yielded professional development feedback: the need for career models and pathways; balancing career aspirations and family responsibilities; childcare issues and costs, mobility, dual career couples, and returning after career breaks. The Scenario Toolkit for Advancing Careers in Science targets this call to action to help European women scientists navigate the complex relationships between events and decisions that shape a scientist's professional development through the doctoral and postdoc stages. Portia, a UK-based non-profit, will pilot the scenario method through workshops delivered with two partners; the Technical University Berlin and Tel Aviv University. Portia's scenario toolkit moves beyond traditional mentorship to provide an innovative new strategy for improving the career success of female scientists and engineers.

STEM CIC Writing Retreat, University of Nebraska, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, US

With a grant from the Elsevier Foundation, the University of Nebraska aims to retain women scientists by improving research productivity and promoting critical networks through a model STEM writing retreat. A week-long, multi-disciplinary, multi-rank writing retreat at the University of Nebraska (UNL) will be offered to STEM faculty across the "Big 10" universities. With a concerted focus on writing success and social connections, this program has the potential to serve as a model that can be easily replicated across institutions and disciplines to help retain STEM women in academia.

Get Ahead with Optics: Career Development for Women in Science, University of Carthage, Engineering School of Communications, Tunisia

Over the last years, optics research has become an indispensable part of daily life. Fiber optics for telecoms, medical imaging and cancer research, optical parts in cars, computer and 3D screens are at the core of the world's technical infrastructure. This interdisciplinary proposal from Tunisia aims to orient young women scientists in the dynamic and rapidly evolving field of optics and photonics while providing them with professional development skills and a deeper understanding of what is needed to succeed as a woman scientist. The ten day summer school in optics is a partnership between the University of Carthage's Engineering School of Communications, Tunisia and Philipps University from Marburg, Germany and offers recent Tunisian and German graduate students with scientific orientation, career coaching and international exchange to lay the groundwork for a successful scientific career.

Rethinking the Future of the STEM Workforce: Best Practices in Work-Life Effectiveness, Association of Women in Science, US

While women comprise roughly half the US work force, they hold just 24% of STEM jobs according the Department of Commerce. Whether the root causes lie in a lack of female role models, gender stereotyping, or a lack of family friendly flexibility, the resulting attrition in the academic pipeline means that the US is halving its potential for innovation. The Elsevier Foundation New Scholars program has focused on the holistic, work-life dimension of the STEM workplace including dependent care, dual career relationships, mentoring and travel to professional meetings. The Association of Women in Science (AWIS) will collaborate with the New Scholars program to leverage best practice testimony to impel systemic change in the global STEM workplace. Through an international work-life satisfaction survey and a New Scholars Roundtable, AWIS aims distill recommendations into a report that will serve as an action plan to help employers, working women, and policymakers identify, create and sustain systemic changes.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/e-ef2011012.php

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Iran sentences American man to death in CIA case (AP)

TEHRAN, Iran ? An Iranian court has convicted an American man of working for the CIA and sentenced him to death, state radio reported Monday, in a case adding to the accelerating tension between the United States and Iran.

Iran charges that as a former U.S. Marine, Amir Mirzaei Hekmati received special training and served at U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan before heading to Iran for his alleged intelligence mission. The radio report did not say when the verdict was issued. Under Iranian law, he has 20 days to appeal.

The 28-year-old former military translator was born in Arizona and graduated from high school in Michigan. His family is of Iranian origin. His father, a professor at a community college in Flint, Michigan, has said his son is not a CIA spy and was visiting his grandmothers in Iran when he was arrested.

His trial took place as the U.S. announced new, tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, which Washington believes Tehran is using to develop a possible atomic weapons capability.

Iran, which says it only seeks nuclear reactors for energy and research, has sharply increased its threats and military posturing against stronger pressures, including the U.S. sanctions targeting Iran's Central Bank in attempts to complicate its ability to sell oil.

The U.S. State Department has demanded Hekmati's release.

The court convicted him of working with a hostile country, belonging to the CIA and trying to accuse Iran of involvement in terrorism, Monday's report said.

In its ruling, a branch of Tehran Revolutionary Court described Hekmati as a mohareb, an Islamic term that means a fighter against God, and a mofsed, or one who spreads corruption on earth. Both terms appear frequently in Iranian court rulings.

In a closed court hearing in late December, the prosecution asked for the death penalty for Hekmati.

The U.S. government has called on Iranian authorities to grant Swiss diplomats access to him in prison. The Swiss government represents U.S. interests in Iran because the two countries don't have diplomatic relations.

Hekmati is a dual U.S.-Iranian national. Iran considers him an Iranian since the country's law does not recognize dual citizenship.

His father, Ali Hekmati, and family friend Muna Jondy, an attorney who has been speaking on behalf of the family, did not immediately respond to emails and phone messages left at their offices before business hours Monday morning.

Similar cases against Americans accused of spying have heightened tensions throughout the years-long standoff over Iran's nuclear program.

Iran arrested three Americans in July 2009 along the border with Iraq and accused them of espionage, though the Americans said they were just hiking in the scenic and relatively peaceful Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

One of them was released after a year in prison, and the other two were freed in September in deals involving bail payments that were brokered by the Gulf sultanate of Oman, which has good relations with Iran and the U.S.

On Dec. 18, Iran's state TV broadcast video of Hekmati delivering a purported confession in which he said he was part of a plot to infiltrate Iran's Intelligence Ministry.

In a statement released the same day, the Intelligence Ministry said its agents identified Hekmati before his arrival in Iran, at Bagram Air Field in neighboring Afghanistan. Bagram is the main base for American and other international forces outside Kabul, the Afghan capital.

It is not clear exactly when he was arrested. Iranian news reports have said he was detained in late August or early September.

Hekmati's father, Ali, said in a December interview with The Associated Press, that his son was a former Arabic translator in the U.S. Marines who entered Iran about four months earlier to visit his grandmothers.

At the time, he was working in Qatar as a contractor for a company "that served the Marines," his father said, without providing more specific details.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120109/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_american_detained

bcs national championship crimson tide crimson tide alabama lsu the bachelor lsu alabama national championship

SPORTS ROUNDUP: Girard Trojans earn overtime victory

The Iola Fillies made the Girard Trojans earn a 46-37 overtime win Friday, despite the fact the Fillies were held scoreless in the second quarter.

Hadyn Herlocker and Jordan Davied helped lead Girard on the offensive end and Girard head coach Brad Herlocker said the defensive effort of Hannah Jones, Hope McLeod and Alex Walsh helped Girard pull away with a 12-3 overtime advantage.

This was after Iola outscored Girard 15-7 in the fourth to force overtime ? Iola tied it up with nine seconds remaining and Girard missed a 17-foot shot at the buzzer. Girard led 27-19 after the third quarter.

Hadyn Herlocker and Kendra Taiclet of Iola led all scorers with 18 points. Davied contributed with 17 points. Jones and Carly Heatherly each had three points for Girard. Kelsey Larson added nine points for the Fillies.

Girard (5-2) plays traditional SEK League powerhouse Labette County at home on Tuesday.

Iola 49, Girard boys 30
The Mustangs put away the Trojans early on Friday night.

Iola scored the first nine points of the game before Cody Grilz made the first Girard basket at 2:06 of the first quarter and then after Dillon Walsh scored a second consecutive Girard basket, the Mustangs answered with 17 straight points for a commanding 26-4 lead. Devin Alters next hit a 3-point shot with 45 seconds left in the first half and Girard trailed Iola 29-7 at halftime.

Grilz and Alters each had nine to lead Girard (4-4). Walsh and Trenton Stolte added seven and five points, respectively.

Jerrik Sigg scored a game-high 14 points and Braden Larson added 13.

Colgan girls 53, Columbus 43
The Panthers won their second consecutive game after holiday break, both games away from the friendly confines of the St. Mary?s Colgan Fieldhouse and evened their record at 3-3 on Friday night.

Mariah Klenke led all scorers with 18 points and freshman Alex Minton went for 16 points ? highlighted by two 3-point shots ? and two steals. Brandee Main added 12 points. Nichole Kolarik grabbed 15 rebounds ? 10 defensive, 5 offensive ? and freshman Aliee Story had four steals.

The Colgan boys (4-2) rebounded from a loss to Seneca (Mo.) on Tuesday with a 59-55 win over Columbus.

Riverton boys 35, Baxter Springs 34 (OT)
Chandler Underhill and Greyson Spriggs helped the Rams stay undefeated ? now 6-0 ? with 24 points (Underhill 13, Spriggs 11). Austin Karnes led a hard-luck Baxter squad with 11 points.

Pittsburg JV girls 44, Neosho (Mo.) 27
The Purple Dragons improved to 4-3 with help from Alaura Short (15 points), Katy Short (seven points) and Lura Jackson-Wilson (six points).

Source: http://www.morningsun.net/x915103229/SPORTS-ROUNDUP-Girard-Trojans-earn-overtime-victory

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Watch an iPad Survive a Freefall From Space [Video]

G-Form has put iPads through some serious torture in the name of, err, angular yellow iPad cases? Whatever. This is an iPad (and a Go-Pro!) falling from over 100,000 feet—high enough to see the curvature of the Earth and the black of space. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ohYFeSqujkA/watch-an-ipad-survive-a-freefall-to-earth-from-space

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City Council endorses funding for mayor's trip to China

Mayor Dana Williams in April intends to travel to China at the expense of Park City taxpayers, a mission to the world's most populous country to discuss City Hall's environmental efforts and promote the city as a tourism destination.

The Park City Council on Thursday night agreed that the trip is worthwhile. Had the City Councilors opposed the outing, it would have been more difficult for the mayor to justify the cost.

The itinerary covers 11 days and brings the mayor to the Chinese capital of Beijing as well as Xian, a major city in the interior of China located approximately 700 miles southwest of Beijing.

The trip is estimated to cost $5,490. A shorter trip had been under consideration that would have dropped Beijing from the schedule. The trip to Xian only, extending seven days, was estimated at $3,910. Williams has been invited to speak during an environmental conference in Xian. The invitation prompted the discussion about a trip.

The City Council wants City Hall officials to ask the Park City Chamber/Bureau to fund a portion of the trip, particularly the Beijing leg, since the mayor will be promoting tourism while he is in China. The elected officials, though, indicated the trip does not hinge on assistance from the Chamber/Bureau.

Diane Foster, who manages City Hall's environmental programs, said in a report distributed this week there could be 20 million skiers in China by 2014, according to a national ski association in China. Foster's report recommended the City Council endorse the trip.

The City Councilors did not spend lots of time discussing the trip. City Councilman Alex Butwinski, though, said he hoped the Chamber/Bureau agrees to a "significant amount" of assistance for the stay in Beijing. City Councilwoman Liza Simpson said the trip is as valuable to City Hall as the annual City Tours to other communities in the West.

The mayor received an invitation to address the 1st Annual World Congress of Biodiversity, organized by the Beijing Institute of Technology and scheduled from April 25 until April 28 in Xian. The program lists a 25-minute slot in the middle of the afternoon on April 27 for Williams to speak during a session dedicated to mountain biodiversity. He will speak alongside professors from the University of Georgia and schools in countries like Russia, Germany and Austria.

The title of his remarks is to be determined, according to the program, which lists Williams as "Dr. Dana Williams" although the mayor does not hold a doctoral degree. He said he has informed the organizers he does not hold one.

"This isn't a 12-day vacation by any means," Williams said in an interview before the City Council meeting.

He said he received an invitation to speak 1 1/2 months ago. The organizers told him a United Nations official who is based in Rome and is interested in mountain communities recommended he be involved in the conference, Williams said.

The mayor said his remarks will include topics like City Hall's land conservation program, economic development and the socioeconomic makeup of Park City. He said he plans to touch on the successes of public-private partnerships in Park City, such as the relationship between City Hall and Summit Land Conservancy, the not-for-profit group that enforces restrictions on open space under municipal ownership.

City Hall's wide-ranging environmental programs have been a hallmark of the Williams administration. The mayor and others in the municipal government ascribe to an idea that a warming planet could eventually threaten the ski industry that is critical to the local economy.

Williams said he plans to spend his time in Beijing visiting a Park City High School sister school and visiting travel councils to promote tourism in Park City.

The trip would be his second to China as the mayor. He traveled in 2007 with a group from Park City High School as part of a friendship program. Williams paid for his flight on that trip and the friendship program paid other expenses.

Source: http://www.parkrecord.com/ci_19690469?source=rss_viewed

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Rep. Rooney: Obama's Military Cuts 'Dangerous'

United States national security is at risk from the hundreds of billions of defense cuts that President Barack Obama announced on Thursday, Republican House Armed Services Committee member Tom Rooney says.

?We are getting into very dangerous waters,? Rooney, a former military prosecutor, told Newsmax.TV in an exclusive interview.

Story continues below.


The cuts could even empower potential enemies such as Iran and even China into thinking that the U.S. is now terribly weakened, he added.

?We always used to have the saying 'Speak Softly but Carry a Big Stick' and we?ve gone from that to ? the president doesn?t like to hear this word, but ? appeasement,? said the Florida congressman.


?If that is supposed to make our enemies like us more, it does not work.
?This president likes to say that because he used the drones and he got Awlaki and he got bin Laden. Great, but that is a pittance compared to showing the world our strength, not to mess with us, not to mess with our allies.?

Rooney said that former Defense Secretary Robert Gates had made it clear to Congress that the military cuts in last year?s budget meant spending was at the absolute minimum if the country was to be kept safe.

?Leon Panetta, the new Secretary of Defense, was singing the same tune as Secretary Gates originally, but of course has now gotten a talking-to and is now saying we basically can figure it out.

?That is not a way to run a country. It?s certainly not a way to keep the peace and keep ourselves defended and our freedoms defended which is the bedrock of what we are supposed to be doing at the federal government level.?

Obama announced some $480 billion cuts in military spending over four years on Thursday. It was a tacit acknowledgement that the United States will no longer have the means to fight wars on two fronts simultaneously.

Rooney said the president made a tactical mistake by announcing the cuts publicly. ?You never tip your hand to the opposition out there or the potential opposition. One of your biggest defenses or assets is to be able to keep your opponents guessing as to what you do have or what you might have.?

But he said that is typical of the way Obama has dealt with defense issues.

?It?s been kind of the M.O. of this president from the get-go, to tell Russia we?ll remove missiles from Poland and the Czech Republic out of a sign of peace and we?ll give the Taliban back some of their bad guys or we?ll reduce the size of our military here and there.

?That doesn?t make our enemies respect us. That makes our enemies laugh and think that this is an opportunity for them to go forward.

Rooney said that one of the consequences of a massive drawdown is that arms manufacturers have to lay off some of their best people, and when the inevitable need to re-arm comes along, it takes time to get production back up to speed.

?What ends up happening is, even if we get a Republican president who is more in tune with what I?m saying, there is a lag time to get ourselves back ramped up, so to speak, and that?s a problem.?

The congressman, who spent four years in the Judge Advocate General corps, prosecuting civilian crimes at Fort Hood Texas before teaching law at West Point, said much of Obama?s decision was politically based, as he positions himself prior to the general election.

?He is in full-blown campaign mode,? Rooney said. ?One of the big talking points of the left has always been that we can gut the Pentagon, that we can downsize our military: we?re coming home from Iraq; we?re coming home from Afghanistan and there is no need to have this huge military apparatus.

?But that?s exactly when you do need it. You need it to make sure that not only we?re safe and we can live in freedom and have the liberty that that kind of security blanket provides.?

He said decisions to pull missiles from former Warsaw Bloc countries would signal to the people who fought Soviet communism that the United States is ?leaving the schoolyard and the bully on the block has basically got free rein again.

?Appeasing the liberal base by gutting the Pentagon just so he can get reelected is doing us no favors globally in wartime or in peacetime.?

? Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/rooney-obama-military-cuts/2012/01/05/id/423212

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omalleypicks: Florida Panthers @ New York Rangers - New York Rangers (-0.5) (-118) [1st 60 Min] - #SportsBetting #NHL #Tipster #Hockey #NYR #Betting

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Florida Panthers @ New York Rangers - New York Rangers (-0.5) (-118) [1st 60 Min] - #SportsBetting #NHL #Tipster #Hockey #NYR #Betting omalleypicks

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ReplytoAll: Embarrassing game for #Clemson against WVA in the Orange Bowl. 63-26 early in the 4th #ugly #ncaa

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Embarrassing game for #Clemson against WVA in the Orange Bowl. 63-26 early in the 4th #ugly #ncaa ReplytoAll

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Ford promises big statement with relaunch of Lincoln at Detroit auto show

Ford's Lincoln brand will showcase a concept of its new MKZ sedan at next week's 2012 North American International Auto Show as a major step to compete more effectively in the growing luxury market.

But Lincoln is also using a new, larger display area to highlight the relaunch of a brand that has struggled while other luxury brands have grown significantly in the last year.

"This is the biggest statement Lincoln has ever made at an auto show," said Max Wolff, Lincoln's director of design, in a statement.

"Our NAIAS display represents more than a vehicle debut. It represents the reinvention of Lincoln," Wolff said.

Ford has promised seven new or significantly modified vehicles for Lincoln by 2014. The flagship MKS sedan and MKT crossover will go on sale this year with substantial upgrades, but the MKZ will be the first true all-new vehicle from the dedicated team created a year ago to completely overhaul Lincoln's lineup.

The new display is 50% than last year's stand and hopes to set itself apart with the ambiance of an art gallery complete with art and decor by artist Chuck Hoberman who contributed to the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and rock group U2's 360 degree tour.

Two of Hoberman's spheres will expand to 11 feet and condense back down to three feet in time with a special soundtrack.

The stand also features art and sculpture by at least six other metro Detroit artists.

"Lincoln's 2012 NAIAS stand is a full premium experience," said C.J. O'Donnell, Lincoln's group marketing manager, in a statement.

There will be vehicles on a simulated road; product specialists will highlight the features of current models and there is a lounge on the second level where visitors can appreciate Lincoln's heritage by viewing Edsel Ford's restored 1934 Model 40 Special Speedster.

Source: http://www.freep.com/article/20120103/BUSINESS01/120103003/1014/rss13

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