Newswise — LA JOLLA, CA and JUPITER, FL – Mar. 21, 2018 – The Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences at The Scripps Research Institute is ranked among the top ten in the nation according to a recent survey by U.S. News & World Report. This is the 19th year in a row that the program has earned top ten honors.

The Institute’s Chemistry program ranks 6th in the nation and the Biological Sciences program ranks 10th, according to the survey, which was released March 20. For specialties within Chemistry, the graduate program tied for 2nd in Biochemistry (with Harvard) and earned a 5th place ranking in Organic Chemistry.

“These high rankings reflect an adherence to excellence by Scripps faculty, who originally conceived and developed the program, as well as the stellar students who join us here at the Institute as we explore the frontiers of science,” says Phil Dawson, dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at the Institute.

According to Dawson, since its founding in 1989, the graduate program has placed over 100 alumni in faculty positions at major universities and colleges around the world. Hundreds more alumni, he says, have been placed in leadership roles in biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

 Earlier this year, the Institute announced that one of its dedicated benefactors, the Skaggs family, was making a transformational lead gift toward an endowment campaign to establish fellowships for all students in the graduate program. In honor of that gift, the program was renamed the Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences. The Institute itself was ranked #1 in the world last year by Nature Index for its “influence on innovation.”

About The Scripps Research Institute

The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) is one of the world's largest independent, not-for-profit organizations focusing on research in the biomedical sciences. TSRI is internationally recognized for its contributions to science and health, including its role in laying the foundation for new treatments for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, and other diseases. An institution that evolved from the Scripps Metabolic Clinic founded by philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps in 1924, the institute now employs more than 2,500 people on its campuses in La Jolla, CA, and Jupiter, FL, where its renowned scientists—including two Nobel laureates and 20 members of the National Academies of Science, Engineering or Medicine—work toward their next discoveries. The institute's graduate program, which awards PhD degrees in biology and chemistry, ranks among the top ten of its kind in the nation. In October 2016, TSRI announced a strategic affiliation with the California Institute for Biomedical Research (Calibr), representing a renewed commitment to the discovery and development of new medicines to address unmet medical needs. For more information, see www.scripps.edu.