DALHOUSIE RANKS HIGH FOR RESEARCH
Magazine impressed by quality of working
environment at university

by James Keller

When Helmuth Thomas decided to leave his research post at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, he considered universities throughout the United States, Europe and Canada.

Fom a host of reasons, he chose Dalhousie University as the place to continue his research in oceanography.

"Dalhousie has a good view in the rest of the world," said Mr. Thomas, who arrived in Canada just six weeks ago. "You are free to set up your own research instead of in Europe where you're often told what to do."

It came as no surprise to Mr. Thomas, then, that The Scientist magazine recently ranked Dalhousie fourth in a list of the best non-U.S. institutions at which to conduct research.

The magazine, published in Pennsylvania, invited more than 35,000 scientists from around the world to rank their institutions in categories ranging from pay to research resources to the other scientists they work with.

In all, 1,456 scientists responded, and The Scientist compiled the results in its Nov. 8 issue, listing the top 10 U.S. and non-U.S. institutions. Six Dalhousie researchers completed the survey.

Carl Breckenridge, Dalhousie's vice-president of research, said he welcomes the attention, but he takes the results with a grain of salt.

"It indicates that researchers at Dalhousie feel positively about the research environment here," Mr. Breckenridge said.

But since the survey represents such a small number of researchers, the school doesn't read into the results too much, he said.

The Scientist staff writer Maria Anderson, who co-authored an article that ran alongside the list, said even though the results aren't scientific, they can be useful.

"We don't make any attempt to make this a scientific survey," said Ms. Anderson, who added that most institutions had between five and 15 researchers respond. "We still think it provides some good information to our readers and some helpful information that, if not scientifically significant, is at least interesting."

The Dalhousie researchers who responded rated the university highest on questions dealing with their peers and the interaction they have with other scientists at the university. They also listed this area as the most important to the quality of their working environment.

"I like the atmosphere of Dalhousie. It's quite collegial," said Mr. Thomas, who wasn't yet at Dalhousie when the survey was conducted.

Mr. Breckenridge agreed that this is a quality that sets Dalhousie apart.

"One of the strengths of Dalhousie is that it's a medium-sized university and it's a really collaborative community," he said.

Dalhousie was one of five Canadian schools that appeared in the top-10 list. As part of the results, the magazine also ran an article lauding the benefits of doing research in Canada.

Though not included in the survey questions, the magazine pointed out that the amount of federal research funding plays a large role in improving the work environment for Canadian scientists.

Mr. Thomas said funding was also a major factor in his decision to come to Canada. He came to Dalhousie under the Canada Research Chair program.

"As far as I can see, there are more ways to get money than in the U.S. and Europe," Mr. Thomas said, which means he can spend more time on his research and less time vying for limited and much sought after research funding in other countries.