The
Salk Institute for Biological Studies is an independent, non-profit, scientific research institute located in
La Jolla, California. It was founded in 1960 by
Jonas Salk, the developer of the
polio vaccine; among the founding consultants were
Jacob Bronowski and
Francis Crick. Building did not start until spring of 1962. The institute consistently ranks among the top institutions in the US in terms of research output and quality in the life sciences. In 2004, the Times Higher Education Supplement ranked Salk as the world's top
biomedicine research institute, and in 2009 it was ranked number one globally by ScienceWatch in the neuroscience and behavior areas.