UCT in THE top 50 listing for life sciences

In the process of releasing further details in their 2010 rankings, the Times Higher Education (THE) ranking system has announced that UCT has been placed 45th out of the top 50 life sciences universities.

According to the recently released THE Life Sciences Universities 2010 listing, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology heads the rankings. The top half of the institutions listed hail from the US, Canada and the UK.

A THE media statement reads: "MIT's triumph in this subject will come as no surprise to those familiar with the institution: about a third of its on-campus research is in the area of life sciences and is supported by the US Federal Department of Health and Human Services."

UCT is Africa's sole representative in the top 50.

A delighted Professor Danie Visser, the deputy vice-chancellor responsible for research, said that although the THE website itself gives no clue as to what is included under the rubric 'life sciences', the Thomson-Reuter company (which collects the data for the THE ranking) does offer a broad definition of life sciences.

"What is included and excluded is given in great detail on their website, but in essence it includes not only research that at UCT is located in the Faculty of Science - broadly speaking, botany, zoology and molecular and cell biology - but also includes a large component of the research done in the Faculty of Health Sciences, though seemingly excluding clinical research."