Sanger Institute Reviews

Cons

Free bus but the campus is far away and it takes at least 30 minutes to get there

Cons

Its pretty far from the town centre but I hear they have introduced a shuttle.
Limited dining options

Cons

- No career opportunities for software developers.
- Flexi-time is almost pointless if you don't have a car.
- Fairly long bus commute (+ queueing).

Cons

Staff turnover is high, particularly at Director level and it's worrying that it seems to be one particular gender at the most senior level, they struggle to retain. They show great initiative for equality, diversity and inclusion but don't seem to have addressed the issues on their own doorstep. It's okay in the short-term but there are plenty of other opportunities in Cambridge, in this industry for long-term careers where staff will be valued. All the facilities are there to make this a great place to work and there are people trying to make it better, but perhaps their ideas are too radical or it's simple not a priority on the top table. Evident blame culture.

Cons

Location is not great as its about 25 min drive from Cambridge, but there is a free bus service provided.

Cons

Its values are centred around equality, diversity and inclusivity, but nothing about meritocracy. In less than five years, its highly vocal equality preachers have transformed the campus into a second-rate mediocre place, by promoting inclusivity at the cost of reduced performance. Definitely no longer a place for ambitious high performing individuals.

Cons

1) Career progression is non-existent (A good place to be for 2-3 yrs only, publish then leave and leverage the "Sanger brand" elsewhere).

2) Cambridge is a very expensive place to live, and places that are cheaper like Royston or Haverhill, are not serviced by the campus bus service. There is also poor public transit links to the site.

3) Salaries are great for those starting a phd or postdocs, probably one of the best in the region, but for everyone else it is simply not competitive enough. Bioinformaticians & software developers simply walk across the pavement to the neighboring institute, EBI or to the many new startup companies setting up on site, where salaries and benefits are significantly better. This sometimes feels like the norm. Sanger simply has no real plan for retention, especially for high performers (seems to apply to senior employees as well) and appears to have accepted this fact.

If you are a manager, having high staff turnover is horrible and very disruptive to work timelines and team morale.
However if you are staff, as long as you accept that working at Sanger is a short term endeavor with the goal of name dropping it on to your CV, then its not a bad place to be, otherwise the life science/tech landscape in Cambridge area is very strong, and there are many better places to build a long term career at, that is both mentally stimulating and financially rewarding.

Cons

Out of town, some groups are less relaxed than others

Cons

low starting salary for PostDocs

Cons

The site is out of town; not very accessible other than by the shuttle bus or by personal car, working hours less flexible, food on site is quite expensive!