The Elsevier Foundation Awards 2010 New Scholars Grant to the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSDW)

2010 Partnership With TWOWS Aims to Improve Participation and Recognition of Women Scientists in the Developing World

BEIJING, June 30, 2010 - The Elsevier Foundation announced today that it has awarded the 2010 New
Scholars grant to the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing
World (OWSDW), formerly the Third World Organization for Women in Science
(TWOWS) - for two programs: the National Assessments and Benchmarking of
Gender, Science, Technology and Innovation and the OWSDW Awards for Young
Women Scientists 2011. The $177,000 grant was announced at the OWSDW 4th
General Assembly and International Conference, Women Scientists in a Changing
World, hosted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Beijing.

The OWSDW National Assessments and Benchmarking of Gender, Science,
Technology and Innovation will undertake a seven country assessment in
collaboration with WIGSAT (Women, Technology, Society) to provide a picture
of the level of support, opportunities and participation of women in
innovation systems in developed, emerging and developing countries. A series
of policy recommendations will then be developed on the basis of the data
analysis and future assessments, for defining and achieving national targets
for women's participation in countries with highly accelerated growth in the
research arena. The study will cover: China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, South
Africa, the US and Europe.

A 2009 Elsevier Foundation New Scholars grant enabled the OWSDW Awards
for Young Women Scientists to expand the existing award program from four
prizes (one per developing world region) to twelve (three discipline-specific
grants per region). The 2010 prizes were announced on June 27th at the OWSDW
4th General Assembly meeting in Beijing and awarded by Xi Jinping, Vice
Chairman of the People's Republic of China and David Ruth, the Executive
Director of the Elsevier Foundation. The 2010 Elsevier Foundation New
Scholars grant will also ensure that the OWSDW Awards for Young Women
Scientists will be continued in 2011, ensuring that talented young women
scientists from the developing world continue to be recognized for their
achievements.

Targeting the attrition of talented women scientists in the academic
pipeline, past Elsevier Foundation New Scholars projects have aimed to
support women scholars during the early stages of their demanding careers in
science and technology. They have ranged from mentoring to advocacy, basic
research to dual career travel and recruiting grants, lactation centers,
childcare at professional meetings and work-life balance workshops.

"We have identified OWSDW's broad and ambitious assessment as a critical
starting point for measuring the participation of women and girls in science,
technology and innovation in emerging and developing contexts," said David
Ruth, Executive Director of the Elsevier Foundation, "By pinpointing key
areas of national strength and weakness, it will help form the basis of
policy and aid going forward."

"We are very grateful to the Elsevier Foundation for this grant," said
Fang Xin, President of OWSDW and member of the Presidium of the Chinese
Academy of Sciences, "The OWSDW benchmarking assessment will chart policies,
factors and actors in national Science, Technology and Innovation systems,
leveraging existing and new data to give a global view on the current status
of participation of women scientists and technologists."

Notes to Editors: David Ruth, Executive Director of the Elsevier
Foundation and Sophia Huyer, Senior Advisor, OWSDW will be available for
interviews at the OWSDW 4th General Assembly and international conference,
Women Scientists in a Changing World, hosted by the Chinese Academy of
Sciences (CAS) in Beijing from 27-30 June 2010. Contact schaffer@twas.org or
newsroom@elsevier.com for further details.

About The Elsevier Foundation

The Elsevier Foundation (www.elsevierfoundation.org/)
provides grants to institutions around the world,
with a focus on support for the world's libraries and for 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. In January 2010, $600,000 in grants
was awarded to 12 organizations selected for their innovation and potential
for impact in the developing world and academic workplace. Through
gift-matching, the Foundation also supports the efforts of Elsevier employees
to play a positive role in their local and global communities. The Elsevier
Foundation is funded by Elsevier (www.elsevier.com), a leading global
publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and
services.

About OWSDW

Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSDW) -
formerly the Third World Organization for Women in Science (TWOWS)
(www.twows.org/) - is an international sister organization of TWAS,
the academy of sciences for the developing world. OWSDW is headed by eminent
women scientists from the south, consisting of more than 3,000 members. The
central role is to promote women's access to science and technology,
enhancing their greater involvement in the decision-making processes for the
development of their countries and in the international scientific community.
Created in 1989, OWSDW's overall goal is to work towards bridging the gender
gap in science and technology. OWSDW uses its forum for intellectual
discussions to assist in the development of national capabilities to evolve,
explore and improve strategies for increasing female participation in
science.

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 (www.thelancet.com) and Cell
(www.cell.com), and close to 20,000 book titles, including major
reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include
ScienceDirect (www.sciencedirect.com), Scopus (www.scopus.com),
Reaxys (www.reaxys.com), MD Consult (www.mdconsult.com) and
Nursing Consult (www.nursingconsult.com), which enhance the
productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite
(www.scival.com) and MEDai's Pinpoint Review (www.medai.com),
which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes
more cost-effectively.

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

    Media Contacts:

    Elsevier Foundation
    Ylann Schemm
    Corporate Relations Manager
    Tel: +31-20-485-2025
    newsroom@elsevier.com
    Elsevier@kaizo.net

    OWSDW
    Danny Schaffer, Information Officer
    Tel: +39-040-2240-571
    Email: schaffer@twas.org
    Web: www.twows.org

    Tasia Asakawa
    TWAS Public Information Office
    Tel: +39-040-2240-512
    Email: asakawa@twas.org

Media Contacts: Elsevier Foundation, Ylann Schemm, Corporate Relations Manager, Tel: +31-20-485-2025, newsroom at elsevier.com, Elsevier at kaizo.net; OWSDW, Danny Schaffer, Information Officer, Tel: +39-040-2240-571, Email: schaffer at twas.org; Tasia Asakawa,TWAS Public Information Office, Tel: +39-040-2240-512, Email: asakawa at twas.org