Posted January 26, 2005

Foreign Scientists Covet Spots in Canada:
U of T Tops List

By: Nicholas Kohler
National Post
November 8, 2004

Five Canadian universities are among the world's most sought-after places to work for scientific researchers, a U.K. science magazine that polled some 35,000 researchers has found.

The University of Toronto topped the list, followed by the University of Alberta in second place, Dalhousie University in fourth, McMaster University in seventh and the University of British Columbia in ninth.

Those universities beat out a host of 20 other top-notch European and Canadian institutions in a survey conducted by The Scientist magazine. The list did not include institutions in the United States, which garnered a list of its own.

Other institutions making the international Top 10 include Scotland's University of Dundee, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and France's National Institute for Agricultural Research.

Canada's success is thanks to renewed funding by the federal government, The Scientist argues, noting in particular the Canada Research Chair program introduced by Jean Chretien in his 2000 budget.

''Piece by piece, Canada is building a science-friendly infrastructure, and researchers are taking note,'' the magazine states, adding: ''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.''

One Canadian scientist also points to new federal dollars poured into awards available to researchers -- including The Canada Foundation for Innovation.

Another boasts Canada funds not research but researchers, meaning federal money is given with no strings attached -- leaving scientists to pursue what they consider interesting or important. Canada also treats its researchers with respect and doesn't bind them up in reams of bureaucratic red tape, other researchers said.

The study asked scientists to rank their most coveted work places in the U.S. and elsewhere on the basis of available funding and lifestyle.

''Since the late 1990s, the research environment in Canada has witnessed 'a virtual revolution,''' the article quotes Bruce McManus, a professor of pathology at UBC, as saying.

''The quality of life is greater than anywhere else in the world, especially when compared to, say, major U.S. cities,'' Boris Steipe, an associate professor at U of T, told the magazine. ''On my academic salary I was able to buy a house right away in a quiet, green neighbourhood only a 10-minute bike ride away from our downtown campus. As the Canadians say: Awesome!''

Pasadena's California Institute of Technology ranked No.1 on the U.S. list, with Purdue University and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center placing in second and third places respectively.

The study asked scientists to rank their most coveted work places in the U.S. and elsewhere on the basis of available funding and lifestyle.