ARL today joined major sponsors Public Library of Science (PLOS), Wellcome Trust, and Google to launch the Accelerating Science Award Program (ASAP), which recognizes the use of scientific research, published through open access, that has led to innovations in any field that benefits society.
The goal of the ASAP program is to build awareness and encourage the use of open access scientific research and, through these stories, inspire greater support for open access.
“ARL’s sponsorship of ASAP signals deep support from the research library community for open access publishing and for the authors who publish in open access journals,” said Elliott Shore, ARL executive director. “Open access encourages the sharing of research and promotes innovation, activities that are central to the mission of higher education and scholarship.”
This new, innovative program recognizes individuals who have used, applied, or remixed scientific research—published through open access—to innovate and make a difference in science, medicine, business, technology, or society as a whole. Potential nominees include individuals, teams, or groups of collaborators—such as scientists, researchers, educators, social service workers, technology leaders, entrepreneurs, policy makers, patient advocates, public health workers, and students—who have used scientific research in transformative ways.
Three top awards of $30,000 each will be presented. The nomination period is open from May 1 to June 15, 2013. Winners will be announced in Washington, DC, in October 2013, at an Open Access Week kickoff event hosted by SPARC and the World Bank.
The ASAP program is sponsored by 24 global organizations that value the transformative impact of applying scientific research, published through open access, to extend the reach of science and medicine.
For more information on the ASAP program, visit http://asap.plos.org/. See also the program rules at http://asap.plos.org/nominate/rules/. Follow and tweet about the ASAP program on Twitter using the hashtag #SciASAP.
