Scandinavia's life science community is on the rise, as reflected in The Scientist's 2006 Best Places for Postdocs survey. Three research institutions in the region ranked in the top 15 this year, and postdocs from around the globe are immigrating there to take advantage of the stimulating research environment.
That environment is characterized by a non-hierarchical structure, and postdocs there feel they have the freedom to take their own initiative. "We work in teams," says third-ranked University of Bergen (Norway) postdoc Abdullah Madhun. "If you have a good idea, it doesn't matter if you are a professor or a postdoc." Madhun, a microbiologist working with influenza response, left Palestine in 1994. He completed his Master's degree and PhD in Norway and has been a postdoc there for three years.
Postdoc Caroline Heckman from Stanford, Calif., was drawn to 13th-ranked University of Helsinki by the Molecular and Cancer Biology Research Program, ...
