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Volume 18 | Issue 21 | 45 | Nov. 8, 2004
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Best Places to Work | Oh, Canada!
Piece by piece, Canada is building a science-friendly infrastructure, and researchers are taking note | By Theresa Tamkins
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Related Articles: Best Places to Work | The Best Places to Work in Academia, 2004 Best Places to Work | Scientists Select the Best Places in the US Best Places to Work | What's Important to the Academic Scientist?
Canada has been putting the pieces of the puzzle together in recent years, and a pretty picture is emerging for scientists. A new focus on innovative programs and increased funding for scientists suggests that it's no fluke that for the first time, five Canadian universities are in the top 10 of The Scientist's 2004 survey of the Best Places to Work in Academia. Since the late 1990s, the research environment in Canada has
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witnessed "a virtual revolution," says Bruce McManus, a professor of pathology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
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"The federal government alone has injected somewhere in the range of $13-15 billion new dollars into a combination of personnel awards," says McManus, who is also head of the Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health, one of 13 institutes at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The Canada Foundation for Innovation also poured $10-11 billion of new funding into major infrastructure upgrades in the academic health science centers across the country, he says.
Rank Institution
Type
Total No. of GovernFull-Time Papers ment Citations Life Published Funding per Science in the Life (in Paper** ResSciences** millions earchers* US$) 7,946 $134.8++ 11,629 18.58
1
University of Toronto, Canada University of Alberta, Canada University of Dundee, Scotland Dalhousie University, Canada
Academic
2
Academic
1,062
$52.9++
6,662
16.19
3
Academic
1,412*
$98.5
2,560
25.78
4
Academic
869
$48.3
2,041
13.65
5
National Institute Government for Agricultural
5,442
$574.9
10,944
12.14
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Research, France Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel McMaster University, Canada Ghent University, Belgium The University of British Columbia, Canada University of Liverpool, UK
6
Academic
2,800
$60.0
6,377
15.63
7
Academic
1,309
$59.2
3,102
16.93
8
Academic
2,737+
$100.3++
NA
NA
9
Academic
921+
$303.2
8,219
17.09
10
Academic
405
$100.3
3,070
11.68
*Includes medical school ** Source: ISI Essential Science Indicators +Includes faculty only ++For the life sciences only conversions rate current as of 10/22
One program, called Canada Research Chairs, was established in 2000 to provide research funding in key academic positions. Allison Sekuler, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, received a Canada Research Chair, and also receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). "One of the things that's great about the Canadian granting systems, and NSERC in particular, is that they don't fund projects, they fund the researcher," says Sekuler. "You can propose one thing and get funded and start on that project and then discover a more interesting sideline and it's perfectly legitimate to go and follow that." And don't forget the northern lifestyle. "The quality of life is greater than anywhere else in the world, especially when compared to, say, major US cities," says Boris Steipe, associate professor at the University of Toronto, which is in the number one spot in the survey. "On my academic salary I was able to buy a house right away in a quiet, green neighborhood, only a 10-minute bike ride away from our downtown campus. As the Canadians say: Awesome!" Sekuler says she feels that the faculty members at her university are treated with respect, and that there is a relative lack of red tape. "I think if you had asked me ... about whether I would rather be in Canada or somewhere else, five or 10 years ago, I wouldn't have necessarily been so gung-ho on Canada," says Sekuler. When it comes time to hire, the current research environment makes it "so easy to make the pitch to come to Canada," she says. "Any time we've wanted
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to hire anyone from the states, we don't have any difficulty. It's just a terrific place to be." --Theresa Tamkins
Best Places to Work | What's Important to the Academic Scientist?
Scientists tend to agree, but some factors do vary from country to country | By Maria W. Anderson
Life scientists agree on many of the key ingredients for a great workplace, according to this year's Best Places to Work in Academia survey, but opinions on other aspects of the job that are important vary from country to country.
Researchers in the United States rated their institution's tenure policy as being very important, while those in Europe and Scandinavia focused more on issues related to their institution's infrastructure. Life scientists in all countries except the United States and Portugal considered their institution's ability to provide adequate laboratory and research facilities to be the most important factor; US researchers ranked it second, and the Portuguese, fifth. Other categories that were important in the United States, however, did not carry as much weight in other countries. Health coverage, which US respondents rated as their most important factor, placed 13th overall among other countries and was among the five least important factors in countries like Denmark and Switzerland, which have state subsidized health care systems. The tenure process, which US researchers consider very important--three of their top 10 factors related to it--doesn't have as much impact in other countries. In France, Belgium, and Norway tenure-related factors didn't crack the top 10 in importance. "Is our tenure system clearly laid
My institution provides an adequate research funding package for new faculty members My institution has the resources to supply basic research infrastructure needs not covered by grants My institution fosters collaboration among faculty Top Factors by US Researchers Only My institution provides adequate health coverage for me and my family The tenure review process has been applied fairly to different faculty members The tenure system at my institution is clearly laid out for the faculty The criteria laid out are/were applied throughout the tenure process Top Factors by US & Non-US Researchers My institution provides adequate laboratory and research facilities for me and my coworkers I maintain good working relationships with my peers
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out? The answer is yes, but this is because there isn't one!" says a researcher from the University of Birmingham, UK. Likewise, factors considered relatively unimportant to US researchers received more attention elsewhere. Scientists in the United States do not consider a well-maintained library very significant, ranking it 15th, but researchers in Finland, Italy, and the Netherlands, rated it among their top five most important factors. "Our outstanding libraries are a tremendous resource for researchers," says Howard Mount, principal investigator at the Center for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Toronto. "The university library system is one of the finest in the world, ranked 4th in North America by the Association of Research Libraries." Overall, respondents considered benefits such as tuition assistance, social events, sports facilities and a transparent payment system relatively unimportant; these were the least important factors to scientists regardless of location.
I believe the pay at my institution is fair and competitive Top Factors by Non-US Researchers Only My peers are among the best scientists in the nation My institution provides adequate core facilities My institution has effective and supportive management My institution has a well-stocked and well-maintained library The administration allows flexibility in balancing research, teaching and mentoring duties Other Factors Identified by Respondents My institution has a clear and supportive policy about commercialization of research. My institution is located in a metropolitan area that has an attractive standard/cost of living. My institution encourages and facilitates interdisciplinary research.
Scientists expressed concern about several factors that our survey didn't measure. "I remain fearful, as do many of my colleagues, that the 'business model' will overtake academic freedom to pursue creative scientific endeavors, even when sometimes it has no obvious purpose or profit," says Mary Farach-Carson of the University of Delaware, in Newark. Some researchers noted that our survey did not include questions related to profit sharing and outside consulting--issues that they felt contribute greatly to workplace satisfaction. "There are now wide discrepancies between places in how they deal with the commercialization of academia, and with outside consulting companies," says Margit Burmeister, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. "For many scientists, how much people get for patents and how much the university helps in establishing start-up companies affects how they feel about their institution." The standard of living in a certain area was also a key factor in the "happy-with-the-job" equation. "We are located in the most beautiful
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setting in France, at a stone's throw from picturesque Provence," says Christophe Marcelle, a professor at the University of the Mediterranean in Marseilles. "That's important." --Maria W. Anderson