Michigan’s University Research Corridor partners were each among the top 29 places to work in academia, all rating higher in 2009 than 2008, according to life sciences-oriented readers of The Scientist magazine.

Respondents, who were qualified faculty mainly in life sciences fields, rated Michigan State University 17th, the University of Michigan 18th and Wayne State University 29th. Greatest strengths of the three, according to the survey, were job satisfaction and tenure/promotion opportunities at MSU, the peers and infrastructure/facilities at U-M and teaching/mentoring as well as pay at WSU.

Scientist Magazine also surveyed post-docs in the life sciences field on the best places to work for people after they have earned their doctorates. The magazine also recognized Van Andel Research Institute of Grand Rapids (25th), which along with the URC, started the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor in 1999. Van Andel was part of The Scientist’s list of the top 40 best places to work for post docs.

“Attracting and retaining the best talent is always the top goal for businesses who want to lead their fields and those resources are clearly available throughout Michigan’s University Research Corridor,” said Jeff Mason, URC executive director. “We are always looking for indicators to measure our impact and potential and this is just another indicator showing we’re continuing to move forward even in challenging economic times.”

Mason and the URC presidents spoke about the URC’s progress Monday while testifying before the state Senate Higher Ed Appropriations Subcommittee.

The URC was founded to leverage the power of Michigan’s research universities to transform, strengthen and diversify the state’s economy. A recent study found that the three universities have a combined impact on the state’s economy of $14.5 billion.

Mason noted that the URC partners fared better in the new survey than peer universities in sunbelt areas known nationally as leading, growing destinations for the creative class including the University of Texas-Austin (31st), UCLA (33rd), the University of Wisconsin-Madison (35th) and Duke University (38th).

Overall, respondents focused on collaboration, team building and unique funding opportunities as important work environment factors. Over 2,350 qualified respondents rated their working environments on a level scale for 38 criteria in 8 different areas.

Represented in those responses were 119 institutions?94 from the U.S. and 25 from the rest of the world. About 47 percent of respondents were from non-medical universities or colleges.

URCMore on the survey