4 July 2011
Dundee once again among the world's 'best places to work in academia'
The University of Dundee has once again been voted the UK’s 'Best Place to Work in Academia', and one of the world's best, in the annual worldwide survey compiled by The Scientist magazine.
Readers of the influential magazine rated Dundee sixth in their list of international institutions (outside of the USA), three places ahead of the next highest placed UK institution. It is the second year in a row that the University has been identified as the best place in the UK for scientists to work, and it has been a regular feature in the list of top 10 international institutions since the survey was launched nine years ago.
A productive research environment and a fun, casual atmosphere were commonly cited attributes of the top-ranked institutions, with The Scientist singling Dundee out for creating an atmosphere that is as playful as it is rigorous.
'We're a high-powered research environment in a low-pressure living environment,' said Professor Mike Ferguson, Dean of Research within the University’s College of Life Sciences.
Professor Pete Downes, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Dundee, praised the staff who helped create this atmosphere and bolster Dundee’s reputation as a leading scientific research institution.
'Once again, our international reputation has been recognised in this poll, and what makes this particularly pleasing is that it gathers the views of academics working in major research institutions across the world.
'There are few institutions who have been as successful as Dundee in this survey since it began and, year after year, we have been identified as one of the best places in the world for academics to work.
'We continue to attract people from all over the world to come and work in Dundee, where they join an extremely strong research base at the University. We are an international centre of excellence in life sciences and medical research and our reputation as such has once again been reflected in this year's poll.'
In this latest poll, readers of The Scientist ranked the J. David Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco, as the top institution in the US. The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, was named top international academic institution.
Both the University of Dundee and the J. David Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco, have built their laboratories in an open plan style in order to increase the cross-fertilisation of scientific research. This was identified as a key feature of successful institutions in the survey findings.
'Collaboration was a recurring theme among this year’s top-ranked institutions,' said The Scientist editor Jef Akst. 'It's clear that scientists value the accessibility of fruitful partnerships to enhance their research.'
The full article with detailed survey results can be found in the July 2011 issue of The Scientist and is available online at www.the-scientist.com/bptw.
The top institutions in The Scientist Best Place to Work in Academia, 2011, survey were:
The Top 10 International Institutions:
- Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
- INRA, Versailles, France
- University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
- Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
- University of Groningen, Netherlands
- University of Dundee, Scotland, UK
- Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario
- University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
- University of St. Andrews, Scotland, UK
- University of Liverpool, England
The Top 15 US Institutions:
- The J. David Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA
- St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA5
- Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA
- Children’s Hospital Boston, MA
- Midwestern University, Downers Grove, IL, and Glendale, AZ
- The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Ardmore, OK
- Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, MO
- Princeton University, NJ
- Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK
- Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA
- Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME
- University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK
- Georgetown University, Washington, DC
NOTES TO EDITORS
About the University of Dundee:
The University of Dundee is internationally recognised for its excellence in life sciences and medical research with particular expertise in cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and tropical diseases. The University has a top-rated medical school with research expanding from 'the cell to the clinic to the community', while the College of Life Sciences is home to some of the world's most cited scientists among 850 research staff from 58 different countries. See www.dundee.ac.uk for more details.
About The Scientist:
The Scientist, the award-winning magazine of the life sciences, has informed and entertained life science professionals around the world for the past 25 years. We provide innovative print and online coverage of the latest developments in the life sciences including trends in research, new technology, news, business and careers. For more information, visit www.the-scientist.com.
For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277 |
