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The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center was recently ranked 8th in The Scientist Magazine's 2011 “Best Places to Work in Academia” survey, up from number 18 last year.
The survey is completed by respondents identified as life scientists with a permanent position in an academic, hospital, government, or research organization. This year, the survey received more than 2,200 qualified responses ranking a total of 111 organizations - 92 from the United States and 19 international organizations.
Respondents were asked to evaluate their working environment according to 37 criteria in eight different categories. Survey questions were posed as positive statements with the respondent acknowledging the degree of either their agreement or disagreement on one to five scale. In this year's survey, the Danforth Center received strong marks in the “Management and Policies” as well as the “Infrastructure and Environment” categories. Other categories in the 2010 survey included “Teaching and Mentoring” and “Research Resources, and Pay”.
“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.”
"We are proud to be voted among the top 10 Best Places to Work in Academia," said Sam Fiorello, COO, Danforth Plant Science Center. "We strive to foster an atmosphere of collaboration and support to enable our employees to do their very best work in pursuit of our mission, to improve the human condition through plant science."
The top 10 institutions of 2011 include:
1. J. David Gladstone Research Institutes, San Francisco, CA
2. St. Judes Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN
3. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA
4. Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA
5. Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA
6. Midwestern University, Downer’s Grove, IL and Glendale, AZ
7. The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Ardmore, OK
8. The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis. MO
9. Princeton, University, NJ
10. Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK
Survey results: the-scientist.com/.
About The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
Founded in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center (danforthcenter.org) is a not-for-profit research institute with a mission to improve the human condition through plant science. Research at the Danforth Center will feed the hungry and improve human health, preserve and renew the environment, and enhance the St. Louis region and Missouri as a world center for plant science. The Center’s work is funded through competitive grants and contract revenue from many sources, including the U.S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Agency for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates and Howard Buffett Foundations.
The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center invites you to visit its new website featuring interactive information on the Center's research, scientists, news and public education outreach. RSS feeds and the brand new "Roots & Shoots" blog allow visitors to keep up to date with Center's current operations and areas of research.
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