Elsevier launches new SciVerse application design challenge

Elsevier has launched a new competition that will see software developers creating customised applications for its SciVerse research information platform.

The publisher and data provider is conducting the Apps for Science challenge between April and the end of July 2011, with the aim being to encourage the creation of software that enhances the information search and discovery process.

It is open to entrants from nations in Europe, North America and Asia, including the UK, with the apps set to be integrated with Elsevier's full text article database SciVerse ScienceDirect and its SciVerse Scopus abstract and citation database.

Cash prizes will be presented to the winners of the competition, which will ultimately see the apps added to the SciVerse Applications catalogue as free or user-paid software.

Rafael Sidi, vice-president for the application marketplace and developer network at Elsevier, said: "Apps for Science is our way of sparking innovation and collaboration among the scientific community and encouraging the development of applications by researchers and developers."

Last month, the company launched SciVal Strata, a new service that allows users to evaluate and compare research teams or individual researchers worldwide.