Location

UAB is currently ranked as the #1 U.S. University for Postdoctoral Fellows by The Scientist. It is ranked #28 of all U.S. institutions in annual NIH funding (2021 data from NIH RePORT website). The O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center (OCCC) is one of the nation’s leading cancer research and treatment centers, and one of only 51 comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute. The OCCC serves as the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in the four-state area across Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas, and it was ranked at #25 in the US by US News for 2020-2021. It is one of the original eight cancer centers in the country that earned the prestigious National Cancer Institute “comprehensive” cancer center designation in 1971. UAB’s cancer services are routinely recognized as being among the nation’s best.

The broader Birmingham metropolitan area had a 2020 population of 1,115,289, and is the largest metropolitan area in Alabama as well as the 50th-most populous in the United States. Birmingham was founded in 1871 as an industrial and railroad transportation center with a focus on mining, the iron and steel industry, and railroading. Now it gradually changed to the harbor of Banking, telecommunications, transportation, electrical power transmission, medical care, college education, and insurance business. Interestingly, it was the sister city of Anshan, China and Chaoyang District, Beijing, China (Friendship City). Located in the heart of the Southeast, Birmingham is a short drive from Atlanta, Nashville, New Orleans, Orlando, Great Smoky Mountain and all of the gorgeous Florida beaches. You can study and work in Birmingham, and enjoy life and explore the fun all around the southern part during the weekend and holiday. Birmingham has been recognized as one of the top ten cities to live and work, and one of the top ten entrepreneurial and job growth hot spots in the US. The combination of pleasant weather, geography, diverse culture, activities, and lifestyle make this city a wonderful place to study, work, and live.