Elsevier assists Max Planck in research network visualisation

Elsevier's Scopus data system has been utilised by the prestigious Max Planck Society to create a visualisation of its collaborative research network.

The multimedia exhibition is on display at the Max Planck Science Gallery in Berlin and is designed to showcase how densely Max Planck institutes are linked with local and international partners.

To create this visualisation, Elsevier utilised Scopus, which helps researchers to identify current and potential research partners, to supply the relevant data on the partnerships between Max Planck centres and other institutes and universities.

In excess of 94,000 publications from more than 16,000 institutions over the last ten years were used in this process.

Christian Herzog, vice-president for Elsevier's SciVal custom solutions, described the finished article as an "intuitive, impressive and interactive network visualisation highlighting the global connectedness of the Max Planck Society".

Last month, Elsevier augmented its SciVerse ScienceDirect electronic life sciences journals with the introduction of Genome Viewer, an interactive feature displaying detailed sequence information on genes mentioned in an article.