Ronnie Glud relishes the opportunities of his new role at the Scottish Association for Marine Science.

Ronnie Glud is swapping the bright city lights of Copenhagen for rural Scotland to further his research career. This week he takes up a professorship at the Scottish Association for Marine Science, a multidisciplinary research institute near Oban on the west coast of Scotland.

SAMS, one of the world's oldest oceanographic centres, is part of the UHI Millennium Institute network. It has just won £2.5 million from the Highlands and Island Enterprise development agency.

Professor Glud, who joins from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, said: "The prime reason I am coming here is that I see great potential for research. SAMS has fantastic infrastructure, many appealing facilities, and you can establish a strong group without the normal constraints you would have in many larger institutions with broader scientific foci."

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SAMS currently has 60 scientific staff and trains about 25 PhD students. Professor Glud, who has a particular interest in climatic effects in the Arctic, plans to establish a research group of about eight people. Over the next 18 months he will continue to lead existing projects at Copenhagen, with the potential for staff and student collaboration between the two institutions.

Professor Glud's interest in marine science dates back to his childhood. "As a kid, I was always catching animals, collecting plants and, to my parents' frustration, had numerous fish tanks and bird cages."

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Professor Glud will be accompanied in his move by his wife, Anni, a senior technician who is also taking up a post at SAMS, and their 11-year-old triplets.