The Scientist is pleased to present the winners of the first ever Laboratory and Video Web Site Awards!
Thanks to all who submitted their nominations and votes to recognize the lab leaders and members who develop creative and informative Web sites.
To start off the award process we opened the floor to you, our readers, and we received 60 nominations. Our judges evaluated how well each site encompassed four categories -- design, usability, content and community -- and we now have a list of the top 10 Web sites, as selected by our judges.
Find the Best of the Web, as selected by the readers, below, and also see The Scientist's Editors' Choice, and the judges' favorite lab Web sites.
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This group at Colorado State University studies the Human T cell leukemia virus-associated protein called Tax. One of our judges said this site has a very professional feel.
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Purves' work at Duke University on perception and cognition comes complete with this Web page, some portions so engaging that the nominator warned: "be prepared to lose at least a half hour!"
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The Redfield lab is the most Web friendly site and give us clues on how the lab sites of the future should look.
This site had it all. Although a little busy, it did a great job of using multimedia tools to show what they are doing. And they really connect the reader back to the larger community. I found it easy to navigate and just so fun and interesting overall.
This site has a very simple but elegant look and feel, and all key criteria are met very well.
When you land on a site like this you know even if you didn't find what you were looking for, you'll have had fun while you are there.
The Lamond lab site sets the standard for what a lab site should aspire to provide. Tons of useful information from protocols, tutorials and databases, all in a very accessible and entertaining format. The multi-language overview is truly inspired and there is even provision for the general public. There are many interesting movies and there is a wonderful humor section. I laughed until my sides hurt. After looking at this site, I wanted to change my scientific career to go to their lab.
Interesting site with lots of features. The features will keep people coming back more so than anything. The design is a bit weak, but the content helps out.
As a multi-centered project site with a team of Web designers, etc., it clearly has a huge advantage over the single lab sites.