As the summer arrives, you may be thinking about taking some time off, maybe going to the beach to do something about that unhealthy pallor you acquired poring over the literature this past semester. Forget all that. Go buy some Vitamin D and come back inside, because I know exactly how you should spend the summer months. Geeking out with the Mendeley research data, that’s how! Mendeley has data on 85M research papers including who’s writing about what, who’s reading them, and where they’re being published. We want to give you $10001 for doing something really cool with all that data. The big announcement was back in March, applications have been rolling in, and now Amazon has chipped in free AWS credits for everyone taking part, with a big pot of credits for the winner.

Here’s what you need to do:

Step 1: Register now for your API key and start building your app.
Step 2: Fill out the binary battle entry form to be considered for the grand prize.
Step 3: Enter again! More apps means more chances to win.

The prizes are:

Grand Prize: $10001 + $1000 in AWS credits
Runner-up: $1000 + AR Drone Quadricopter + $500 in AWS credits
All participants: The satisfaction of a summer well-spent + $50 in AWS credits

Anyone can enter

I know what some of you are thinking. “I don’t know any programming languages, so I can’t enter.” I’ll share a secret with you – I don’t either. It doesn’t matter. I learned what I needed to know to make these graphs of research trends in a weekend. I think most programming tutorials as boring as hell, but having access to real live data about cool papers and research areas kept me interested and motivated. Deadline is August 31st, 2011, so find a friend and get started now.