The University of Glasgow has been recognised as one of the top five institutions in the world to work for life scientists, according to The Scientist magazine ﾖ the world leading life scientist magazine.

The Universities of Glasgow and Dundee are the only two Scottish institutions in the top 15 Best Places to Work in Academia, the title has been given in recognition of the University's commitment to this important area of research.

"The Institute of Biomedical & Life Sciences at the University of Glasgow is the biggest of its kind in Europe. Boasting approximately 500 researchers in as broad and diverse areas of study such as - biochemistry and molecular biology, environmental and evolutionary biology, infection and immunity, and molecular genetics ﾖ the Faculty has flourished in its teaching and research in Glasgow over the past 100 years," explains Professor John Coggins, Dean of the Faculty of Biomedical & Life Sciences.

"It is therefore excellent to see the success and achievement of the Faculty highlighted internationally by this title."

The Scientist magazine surveyed over 2,600 academics from around the global, and concluded that those who responded rated relationships with their peers, a sense of accomplishment in their work, and access to research resources as the ingredients for a great workplace.

"What makes the results of this survey so valuable is that professionals are providing unfiltered insight into their workplace," said Richard Gallagher, publisher of The Scientist. "Our participants feel free to express their true opinions about their employers, and that's what's so significant. You know that the responses are really genuine, especially when it comes to the top ranked institutions. People don't praise their place of work in a blind survey unless they truly mean it."

More than 40,000 survey invitations were e-mailed to readers of The Scientist and registrants on The Scientist web site who identified themselves as tenured or tenure-track life scientists working at non-commercial research institutions in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, or Israel. Respondents were asked to assess their working conditions and environments by indicating their level of agreement with 41 criteria in eight different areas. The magazine received 2,603 valid responses representing 135 individual institutions. Overall, The Scientist evaluated the 91 US institutions and 44 non-US institutions that had five or more responses

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For more information contact the University Press Office on 0141 330-3535.

The full text of the article and survey methodology is available online to The Scientist subscribers. Members of the press who would like access to the full text should contact pr@the-scientist.com. For more information about The Scientist?s Best Places to Work surveys, visit us online at The Scientist homepage.

The top 15 International institutions are: 1. Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel 2. University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada 3. University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada 4. University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom 5. University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom 6. Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada 7. Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden 8. Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands 9. Institut Pasteur, Paris, France 10. Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium 11. McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada 12. Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium 13. Cambridge University, Cambridge, United Kingdom 14. University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada 15. University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom

First published: 3 November 2005