Katherine Mcalpine, Author at New �Ӱ�ԭ��

Northern highlights: Careers in a cold climate

Katherine Mcalpine — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Ice and fire

The name “Iceland” may evoke snow and pristine glaciers, but it’s heat not cold that sets it apart. The volcanic activity and hot springs offer unique research opportunities and underpin a flourishing geothermal energy industry.

Forty-odd years ago, an underwater volcano gave rise to the island of Surtsey. From the moment it appeared, access has been restricted to researchers studying its geology and the way it is being colonised by plant and animal life.

“Surtsey has always been an open laboratory,” says Borgthor Magnusson of the Icelandic Institute of Natural History, adding that the institute accepts CVs from researchers with fresh ideas all year round.

Top of the it class

In the World Economic Forum’s 2009 Global Information Technology report, Denmark and Sweden ranked first and second. The assessment was based on factors such as the availability of information-related technologies, government support of education and research, tax levels and the ease of starting a business. Both countries benefit from a strong education system and active government support for science and technology, says Soumitra Dutta, co-author of the report.

Passion for renewables

Europe’s largest renewable energy company, Statkraft, explores future technologies, including wave and tidal power, solar power, and even salt-water power, which uses the interaction between fresh and saline water to generate electricity. The company offers summer jobs, collaborations with master’s programmes, and a two-year international trainee programme at offices spread across Europe (see map). Candidates can submit their CVs throughout the year. According to Petter Schreiner, a second-year trainee, everyone at Statkraft shares a passion for renewable energy. “I really enjoy the enthusiasm and quick spirit,” he says.

There’s a great cultural scene and during winter, after a quick bus ride, you can get on your skis and go for miles

Medicon valley

This giant life-sciences research cluster is made up of 10 universities, 33 hospitals and 479 companies in biotech, medtech and pharmaceuticals in Denmark and southern Sweden. The Medicon Valley Alliance holds an annual meeting as well as half-day “boost” seminars in partnership with member organisations, where participants discuss research, industry and finance.

Pfizer

Pfizer, the world’s highest-earning pharmaceutical manufacturer, has a strong presence throughout Scandinavia. In Sweden, the company’s clinical trials involve 700 physicians and 9000 patients, testing new drugs and assessing drugs already in use. Treatments for central nervous system and cardiovascular diseases, as well as cancer, are in strongest demand in Scandinavia.

Medcoast scandinavia

Running from Oslo in Norway to beyond Gothenburg in Sweden, this biotech cluster encompasses two of Scandinavia’s biggest universities, 14 hospitals, 21 research institutes and some 400 companies. Focused on technology transfer, it provides resources and support to start-up companies. �Ӱ�ԭ��s who want to establish a company in Norway can apply for scholarships of up to £26,300.

Nano-DTU

“We create a forum for people to interact,” says Britt Larsen, head of Nano-DTU at the Technical University of Denmark. Nano-DTU connects researchers from different laboratories within the university, allowing them to make joint proposals for access to large facilities like the 1300-square-metre clean room and 45-teraflop supercomputer. Through Nano-DTU, even a first-year physics student can get experience with advanced scientific equipment, such as an atomic force microscope. Master’s programmes at the university are particularly attractive to students from the UK, as they are taught in English.

Nowhere in Denmark are you more than 50 kilometres from the sea, so sailing is a big pastime

BioTurku

BioTurku, part of the Turku science park in south-west Finland, links training and research with commercialisation of discoveries and product development. Half of Finland’s pharmaceutical and diagnostic industries are concentrated in this region, says Antero Kallio, chief medical officer of Biotie Therapies, making Turku a good place to be based. Biotie Therapies specialises in treatments for central nervous system disorders, which account for about 20 per cent of the Scandinavian drug market.

Northern highlights: Careers in a cold climate

Katherine Mcalpine — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Ice and fire

Top of the it class

Passion for renewables

There’s a great cultural scene and during winter, after a quick bus ride, you can get on your skis and go for miles

Medicon valley

Pfizer

Medcoast scandinavia

Nano-DTU

Nowhere in Denmark are you more than 50 kilometres from the sea, so sailing is a big pastime

BioTurku

A fresh start in the Alps

Katherine Mcalpine — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:00:00 +0000

Switzerland is one of the leading countries for high-tech research

(Image: Brian Harris/Rex Features)

FOR a nation with a history of making complicated clockwork, it is no surprise that Switzerland is top of the heap when it comes to precision, high-tech research. The country boasts two Federal Institutes of Technology, the CERN particle physics laboratory and a major IBM research facility. It is also home to big names in pharmaceuticals such as Roche and Novartis – and who can forget its world-famous chocolate industry?

With British citizens able to work in Switzerland visa-free, annual salaries of up to £72,000 for experienced researchers and the option of skiing in your lunch break, it’s easy to see why Switzerland appeals to so many. So where can you make your mark?

Computing clout

IBM is one of many global companies that have research centres in Switzerland. Its Rüschlikon lab, just south of Zurich, attracts talent from all over the world: 80 per cent of the research staff come from abroad.

The lab is a leader in digital storage technology as well as semiconductor and optical electronics for computer networks. Plans to build a top-class nanotechnology research centre on the site are under way: it is scheduled to be completed in 2011.

The lab recruits from a range of disciplines, including physics, chemistry and maths, says Irene Holenweger Koeb of IBM human resources. It also has a thriving bioscience group working on the application of nanotechnology to the life sciences, among other areas. Most positions require a PhD, though the lab also employs around 100 undergraduates and graduates each year.

Paul Hurley, a researcher in IBM’s systems software group, enjoys the informality of his working environment: IBM encourages a relaxed office culture that includes meetings over lunch or coffee.

With so many of its employees not being Swiss nationals, the company offers ample support to help new employees acclimatise and has a policy of paying relocation expenses. “It’s important to us that new hires settle in easily,” says Koeb.

German lessons, paid for by IBM, bring together employees who are new to Zurich. The standard German taught is different from what Zurich natives speak, so although Hurley has attended the classes, he says it takes a bit more practice to pick up the “Swiss-isms”.

Raising the chocolate bar

Switzerland is known for its chocolate, but being Swiss is not a prerequisite for making it well. “In our company we have 44 nationalities and 18 languages,” says José Rubio of Lindt’s human resources department.

�Ӱ�ԭ��s can find jobs in quality management, research and development and on the factory floor. Those working in R&D help develop new recipes and products, as well as designing and building new machines for making them. However, you might prefer to hone your skills in quality management, where you will have the pleasant task of testing the products to make sure they are up to the company’s high standards.

Foreign staff must speak at least one of the Swiss official tongues, says Rubio. Most positions require a good level of German, particularly important when working with Swiss colleagues on production lines, as many do not understand English.

Lindt draws many of its employees from two major higher-education institutions around Zurich: the and the , part of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. Enrolling at one of these can give young food scientists an edge in getting a job at Lindt or another Swiss food manufacturer.

The ETH in German-speaking Zurich has a sister institution, the . With over 250 research groups and 10,000 students and faculty, it emphasises interdisciplinary scientific research. “We have a strong neurosciences group,” says Mary Parlange of EPFL’s human resources department, who also cites robotics and plasma physics as some of its strengths. The institute’s technology transfer programmes ensure that useful tools and methods make it out of the lab and into industry.

EPFL also builds bridges to other institutions, maintaining close ties with the University of Lausanne and beyond. “We’re one of the leading collaborators at the nuclear facility ITER,” Parlange adds, referring to the fusion laboratory being built in France.

Paul Hurley from IBM became strongly attracted to Switzerland as a student at EPFL. “I was amazed at the salary that I could be offered as a PhD,” he says, adding that students in the UK sometimes have to “fend for themselves” in terms of funding. Jacques Giovanola, head of EPFL’s doctoral school, says that nearly 95 per cent of its PhD students have salaries secured by their supervisors.

I was amazed at the salary I could be offered as a PhD student

Particle people

With the start-up and unexpected shutdown of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in September, CERN has been featuring prominently in headlines. And with good reason: the LHC will ram protons into one another at unprecedented energies in an effort to unravel some of the fundamental knots in our understanding of the universe.

This mammoth project involves engineers, computer scientists, technicians and, of course, thousands of physicists. The UK has a strong presence at CERN in such figures as Lyn Evans, project leader for the LHC, and John Osborne, who heads the excavation of caverns and tunnels.

As the UK is one of CERN’s 20 member states, British nationals can be employed directly by the laboratory. However, most scientists working on CERN projects are employed by organisations in their home country. Many British institutions, such as the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and the University of Glasgow have several teams of students and faculty at CERN.

With as many as 2200 people working on a single experiment, communication skills are vital. Physicists and engineers at all levels spend hours each week discussing progress and solving problems in formal presentations or over coffee in the cafeteria.

Swiss style

This relaxed attitude percolates throughout Switzerland, with a big emphasis on leisure time and on enjoying the country’s spectacular landscape. But if you plan to seek work here, you should be aware of three major differences in lifestyle, Hurley says.

Firstly, like many expats, he finds the Swiss more reserved than folks back home. The Swiss may say yes or no in any of five languages (French, German, Italian, Romansch and, unofficially, English), but they often do it with one word. “In Liverpool it takes 10 sentences to say yes or no,” he says.

Another shock for some is that shops tend to close earlier – around 7 pm in Geneva and 8 pm in Zurich – and they don’t open at all on Sundays. And finally, it makes a refreshing change to be able to set your watch by the public transport system.

And the one thing all expats agree on? The chocolate may be fantastic, but the fondue’s even better.

A room with a view

David Wardrope is registered as a PhD student at Imperial College London but has upped sticks for Geneva, where he works as a software engineer at CERN. “Geneva is a very nice place to live,” says Wardrope, “especially in the summertime. It’s very beautiful down by the lake.”It was in his fourth year of undergraduate study, when he had to choose a master’s project, that Wardrope found out about opportunities in high-energy physics. With many particle physics experiments taking years to complete – the Large Hadron Collider took over 20 years to develop, for example – many physicists begin their careers at CERN as students.On an average day Wardrope meets colleagues to discuss progress and “throw ideas around”. He then spends a few hours coding software that turns signals from the machine’s huge magnets into tracks, revealing where particles pass through the detector.”Coding is usually quite nice unless you get some sort of horrendous bug,” he says, adding that tracking down and fixing a well-hidden error can take days. While repetitive on the surface, the different problems that he and his team tackle on a daily basis provide a welcome escape from routine.On clear days, CERN’s Restaurant 1 affords views of the Alps, including Mont Blanc, either from the broad windows in cold weather or the terrace when it’s warmer. Working on the world’s biggest experiment by day, followed by an evening beer with a mountain view? It’s easy to see why Wardrope has no regrets about the move.