Jason SwedlowBack to Dundee Ambassadors

I moved to Dundee in the summer of 1998 to start my career as an Independent scientist at the Wellcome Trust Biocentre at the University of Dundee. I came to Dundee because of its reputation for excellence and sense that there was a special kind of community building at the Wellcome Trust Biocentre that seemed to be a chance for real scientific excitement and progress. I have remained in Dundee ever since and enjoyed the scientific environment, the exciting discoveries, terrific collaborations and the wonderful people involved in the Life Sciences enterprise at Dundee.

My current position is Professor of Quantitative Cell Biology in the College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee. I am a member of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Gene Regulation Expression and I run a research laboratory at the University. I am also one of the founders of the Open Microscopy Environment and I currently lead the project. OME is an open source data specification and software environment initiative that delivers software tools for life sciences research. That's a lot of words that come down to this: I run a research lab and a software development group, and I love every minute of it!

First and foremost Dundee is home to myself, my wife and my children. All of us were born in other countries but have come to make Dundee our home and are quite happy here. Second Dundee is a wonderful, safe and terrific place to raise a family and to grow personally and professionally. Finally Dundee has proven to be a wonderful place to start and develop a scientific career where innovation and new ideas are encouraged, supported and indeed are all around you. The scientific environment is exciting, world leading and certainly part of the vibrancy that draws so many people here and ultimately keeps them here.

Probably the defining characteristic is a non-stop fostering and embracing of new ideas. In Dundee you never hear "that probably won't work", but rather "Great, how can we get that done". I emphasise the "we"; the desire and energy for collaboration and synergy is incredible.

Dundee is a terrific combination of very liveable environment, great neighbourhoods and fabulous entrepreneurial culture, where intellectual excitement and new ideas are literally in the air. It is also a very family friendly city and is quite simply a great place to live.

Certainly Dundee's growth in the life sciences is one of its great success stories. However throughout its history it has shown a willingness to welcome innovation and new technology and provide a home for these new technologies. Life Sciences is simply the latest technology to find a welcome home in Dundee.

I think it would be terrific to see more and more participation by the local community in the growth and wealth delivered by the life sciences community. There are real opportunities for more integration of the life sciences with the local education system so that the city's young people see the excitement, importance and potential rewards of careers in scientific research and development.

I can't say enough about Dundee's environment for ideas, research and development. The primary and secondary education in the city is very strong so that local populace is well educated and ready and able to embrace these new ideas. The environment simply hums with excitement and I can't wait to see what else the city will discover and deliver for itself and society at large.