Editorial | The 2014 Algerian Paper of the Year Awards

Editorial | The 2014 Algerian Paper of the Year Awards

anasr.org launched the first edition of the Algerian Paper of the Year Awards in January 2013, a unique independent annual event that recognises and celebrates excellence in scientific publications produced by Algerian scientists and researchers inside Algeria. As is this case with other anasr.org activities (namely, the online site with its open directory of Algerian academics, scientists and researchers, and Inspire Magazine), the awards are motivated by the principle that a strong culture of scientific innovation and community must be nurtured from the ground up rather than be merely handed down by institutions.

This is why we designed the awards process so that it engages the wider community of Algerian scientists and researchers from around the world, who are invited to come together at this time of the year to nominate, shortlist, review and select the best papers in five categories of research; Biological Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Computer Science & Engineering, Medicine Pharmacy & Veterinary Science, and Physical Science & Mathematics. This process is also fully funded by the very community it serves through crowd funding.

Last year winners were selected from a total of 160 nomination and spanned various fields. Dr. Boumaiza et al at the University of Jijel won the Physical Science & Mathematics prize for their work on improving the quality of carbon steel manufacturing, a widely used process in the automotive industry, while Dr. Belkheir et al from the University of Ferhat Abbas in Setif won the Computer Science & Engineering prize for their work on surface treatment for high precision optical components. The prize for Chemical Sciences went to Prof. Rezgui et al at the University of Oum El Bouaghi for their work on clean fuels, particularly those derived from biomass, addressing the issue of how to improve air quality by reducing harmful emissions issued from gasoline engines. Ms. Katia Abdelouahab et al from the University of Science and Technology Houari Boumedien in Algiers won the prize for Medicine Pharmacy & Veterinary Sciences, their winning paper describes the use of a new therapy for treating inflammatory bowel disease using probiotic and prebiotic solutions. And finally, Drs. Acourene and Amouche from the National Institute of Agricultural Research in Ouargla and the National Institute of Agronomy in Algiers won the prize in Biological Sciences for their paper describing a novel strategy that employs waste dates as a medium for the fermentation of numerous key substances.

This year, we are launching the second edition of the Algerian Paper of the Year Awards to continue our journey, celebrating the hard and innovative work of Algerian scientists and researchers. The planning phase of the awards started in November 2014 following an open call for participation in the Awards Committee inviting those interested to invest their time and efforts to join the team and help realise this challenging but rewarding journey of discovery and inspiration. The call for nominations for this year’s edition of the awards will open on the 15th of January 2014 and will remain open for one month. Today, we invite Algerian researchers to prepare their papers for nomination and those who are interested in getting involved in the shortlisting and reviewing process to check the full call for nominations and get in touch with the Awards Committee for more information or any inquiries on how to be involved.

The Algerian Paper of the Year Awards is indeed a challenging but rewarding journey that lead us to meet brilliant Algerian scientists from all over the world who share the simple objective of promoting excellence, hard work and genuine scientific curiosity. We are very much looking forward to everyone’s contributions to this year’s edition of the awards and we shall meet with our members, readers and followers again on the 16th of April 2014 when we announce this year’s winners. Until then, keep an eye on anasr.org website and other social media outlets for regular updates about the awards and other activities.