AMSTERDAM, November 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical, and medical information products and services, announces the winners of the Algerian Senior and Early Career Researcher Awards in Chemistry. The award ceremony was held on November 8 at the Sofitel in Algiers, Algeria.  

The awards, sponsored by Reaxys®, are designed to highlight and reward two generations of chemists in Algeria. The criteria used to assess candidates included: recent publication history, publications in impactful journals, citations, and H-index. Award winners were selected by members of the General Directorate for Scientific Research and Technological Development from the Algerian Ministry of Higher Education & Research.

The Algerian Senior Researcher Award in Chemistry was awarded to Prof. Zahia Kabouche from the Université Mentouri Constantine. Prof. Kabouche has published extensively in the field of natural products chemistry. Her career began in 1987 at the University of Constantine. She is currently professor of Organic Chemistry and director of the Therapeutic Substances Laboratory at the Université Mentouri Constantine. Prof. Zahia was presented with a trophy and one of Elsevier's major reference-works.

The Algerian Early Career Researcher Award was awarded to Mr. Dr. Khaldoun Bachari from the Centre de Recherche Scientifique et Technique en Analyses Physico-chimiques CRAPC. Dr. Bachari's research is in the field of mesoporous materials. His career began in 2000 at the Université of Sciences and Technology Houari Boumediene (USTHB). He is currently a research director and the President of the scientific board of the Centre de Recherche Scientifique et Technique en Analyses Physico-chimiques CRAPC. In recognition of his award, Dr. Khaldoun Bachari will be provided with funding to enable his attendance at a leading European chemistry conference in 2013.

"In science it is a sacred duty for us to discover the truth and it is a researcher's duty to protect science," said Professor Hafid Aourag, Director General of Scientific Research of the Ministry of Higher Education, Algeria in his congratulatory speech at the award ceremony. "I am very pleased we are meeting tonight to honour two of our nation's most distinguished researchers."

"For Reaxys, our goal is to enable researchers to do what they do best: make new discoveries", said Dr. David Evans, Scientific Affairs Director, Reed Elsevier Properties SA. "To help them do this, we strive to deliver the right information to them at the right time in the right context. Initiatives like these awards help motivate the scientific community to drive new discovery and ultimately bring exciting results and innovations."

About the Algerian Ministry of Higher Education & Research
The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is the department responsible for the development and the progress of the academic sector and scientific research in Algeria. To achieve these objectives, the ministry has created two institutions: The Research Centre on Scientific and Technical Information (CERIST) was founded in 1985 with the primary objective to implement programs of scientific research and technological development in the field of information science and technology. The General Directorate for Scientific Research and Technological Development (DG-RSDT) came into being in September 2009, and was set up by law # 08-05 of February 23, 2008, which defines the five-year scientific national research plan (2008-2012), expected to move the Algerian research system to excellency for a sustainable development. By this law, the DG-RSDT is the principal enabler of national scientific research and development.

About Reaxys
Reaxys® is a workflow solution for research chemists. Offering a wealth of experimentally validated information, Reaxys® combines reaction and substance data in organic, organometallic, inorganic and physical chemistry with synthesis planning. Researchers can get the information they need in a single overview, from source publications carefully selected for their importance and relevance to research chemists. Elsevier continues to engage with the chemistry community to ensure that Reaxys® continues to reflect how chemists think and work. https://www.reaxys.com/info/

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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 ScienceDirect, Scopus, Reaxys, ClinicalKey and Mosby's Nursing Suite, 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.

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SOURCE Elsevier