Microsoft Research Sponsors BioMed Central 2007 Research Awards

LONDON -- BioMed Central, the world’s largest publisher of peer-reviewed, open access research journals, is pleased to announce that Microsoft Research has agreed to be the premium sponsor of the BioMed Central Research Awards for 2007. The BioMed Central Research Awards, which began accepting nominations in late July, recognize excellence in research that has been made universally accessible by open access publication in one of the publisher’s 180 journals.

"Microsoft’s External Research group is proud to be a sponsor of the BioMed Central Research Awards and feel it is important to recognize excellence in research" said Lee Dirks, director, scholarly communications, Microsoft Research. "We are very supportive of the open science movement and recognize that open access publication is an important component of overall scholarly communications"

Nominations for the awards are now being accepted and will close December 21, 2007. Anyone who publishes original research of major significance in one of BioMed Central’s journals during 2007 is eligible for nomination. Two awards of $5000 (US) will be made – one for biology research, and one for medical research. The winning articles will be selected by a panel including BioMed Central editorial team members and external experts in biology and medicine. Winners will be announced at the BioMed Central Research Awards dinner in early March 2008.

"We’re very pleased that Microsoft Research has shown its commitment to advancing open science by supporting this year’s BioMed Central Research Awards" said Dr. Matthew Cockerill, BioMed Central’s publisher. "With these awards, BioMed Central aims to encourage and reward authors who select BioMed Central journals to publish their very best research"

The first BioMed Central Research Awards were a great success. The winners were announced at the BioMed Central Open Access Colloquium in February 2007, at the Royal College of Physicians, London.

"Winning a BioMed Central Research Award last year has been a tremendous help with my research" said Dr. Flavio Zolessi, Professor Adjunto, Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay. "I used the award to purchase equipment and reagents needed for establishing, for the first time in Uruguay, a research line about zebrafish development. Additionally, I have been invited to speak in Uruguay and around South America. This was in due in part to the fact that the paper was published in a very promising open access journal"