Which country is the best at converting research spending into Nobel Prizes?

The short answer is "probably Switzerland".

A PhD position is available in my group!

I have one exciting opportunity for a lucky applicant. If you're interested in RNA, Bioinformatics and living in our little village on the underside of the planet then please follow the instructions in my advertisement.

Kiwis, what will you die from?

Sometimes exciting results come from chance interactions. Twitter, The Facebook, Blogs and even the occasional Conference and ensuing IRL discussions appear to be accelerating research and certainly the discussion of research. For example, Siousxie Wiles and I have discussed the "Fighting Disease" component of The Great NZ Science Project in multiple forums.  We were both frustrated by the lack of real-data that claims have been based upon, in the associated website and Facebook groups. Then at the annual NZ Microbial Society Meeting we decided to do something about it.