Naturejobs celebrates Melbourne

The extraordinary diversity of scientific research and collaboration found in Melbourne is celebrated in a Naturejobs supplement which publishes alongside Nature today. It includes an interactive map – based on data from the Nature Index – that reveals the extensive local, national and international links that make the city Australia’s life science capital, and number three in the world for biomedical research after Boston and London. “Our map shows Melbourne’s top 44 research institutions and charts the links between them,” says David Swinbanks, the founder of the Nature Index, the high-quality research publications database behind the map. “It allows users to dive in, explore the networks, and see the impact of each institution’s research.”

“Melbourne is the first city we’ve profiled like this, with regular updating of the data in the map,” says Swinbanks. “Staying on top in science today depends on collaboration to access the best people and the essential, and often expensive equipment. As this map illustrates, Melbourne’s research community is a model of collaboration, with key hubs around Melbourne University in Parkville and Monash University in Clayton, and other smaller significant hubs elsewhere.”

“More than 25,000 people comprise Melbourne’ s medical research workforce, and the state of Victoria attracts 40 per cent of the federal government’s funding for the sector” says Jan Tennent, the CEO of Biomedical Research Victoria, a collective group of 29 institutions supporting creation of the map. “This map shows the importance of our connections and networks in maintaining our leadership,” she says.

Melbourne’s top local collaborator is Monash University, followed by The University of Melbourne, Alfred Health, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Melbourne Health. The University of Melbourne, on the other hand, has the highest degree of collaborations overall, locally and globally.

The interactive map is available free online and is featured in a Naturejobs Careers Guide on Melbourne which will be distributed to more than 50,000 Nature subscribers this week. The guide and map will be promoted at the BIO conference in San Diego, US on 19 to 22 June.

The supplement profiles researchers and institutions, including highlighting the interface of science and coffee in Melbourne with a profile of Hungarian-born researcher Monika Fekete, who runs a consultancy bringing scientific rigour to Melbourne’s coffee scene. Her double-blind tastings, refractometry and other tools give Melbourne’s speciality roasters the edge.

The University of Melbourne’s Jim McCluskey says that the scale of science in Melbourne provides a ‘two-body opportunity’ when someone’s partner also needs a job, and having this diverse workforce makes matching skills to jobs much easier.

For comment in Australia please contact:
• David Swinbanks, D.Swinbanks@nature.com
• Niall Byrne, niall@scienceinpublic.com.au, phone +61 417 131 977.

For other enquires about the Nature Index or Naturejobs contact
Mark Staniland, Senior Communications Manager, Nature Research, Springer Nature
+44 (0)20 7014 6630, mark.staniland@nature.com

Naturejobs Career Guide Melbourne is available at www.nature.com/nature/supplements/careerguides/melbourne
Interactive map of Melbourne at www.natureindex.com/collaboration-maps/melbourne