Nature Education, the educational wing of scientific publisher Nature Publishing Group (NPG), UK, has announced that founding partners Roche Applied Science, Tata Consultancy Services, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, and New England Biolabs have pledged substantial financial sponsorship to Scitable. Scitable is Nature Education's free online science library for the global educational community.
Scitable draws upon Nature Publishing Group's 140-year strength in scientific research publishing to provide a library of authoritative educational information, ranging from introductory, media-rich online courses to advanced articles combining summaries of milestone research papers with thorough explanations of key concepts. Scitable also provides a comprehensive suite of educational tools designed to help faculty immerse students in the library, including virtual classrooms and learning paths, as well as a collaborative network of scientists, teachers, journalists, students, and lifelong-learners who can connect for discussion, mentorship, and informal instruction. Since its launch in January 2009, Scitable's library - currently focused on the field of genetics - has been used by more than a million students and faculty in 110 countries.
As sponsors, participating companies underwrite cost-free access to chosen areas of the site on behalf of the global student community. Roche Applied Science, a producer of reagents and systems for life sciences, is sponsoring student access to the Genes and Disease section. Tata Consultancy Services, a provider of technology-based solutions to the healthcare and publishing industries, is sponsoring access to the Evolutionary Genetics and Population Genetics areas. The company has also partnered with Nature Education to develop advanced online collaboration tools.
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals will be launch sponsors of a forthcoming unit on RNAi, the technology at the heart of Alnylam's success in developing innovative therapeutics. New England Biolabs, a provider of reagents to the life science industry, will be launch sponsors for forthcoming units on restriction enzymes and related topics.
Future plans for Nature Education involve expanding Scitable's content library across other fields in the life and physical sciences and developing a mobile site extending access to the library to smartphones.
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