UK science 'facing salary crisis'

Saturday, 26 August, 2000, 00:18 GMT 01:18 UK - The standard of UK science
is on the verge of a crisis because of the poor salaries offered to
researchers, according to a science pressure group.

The Save British Science society (SBS) has published a survey which
suggests universities are struggling to attract high quality employees.

Figures indicate that more than a third of higher education institutions
have been forced to appoint staff who would not previously been considered
good enough in order to fill vacant posts.

And more than half have jobs left unfilled because they cannot find any
suitable candidates.

SBS director, Dr Peter Cotgreave, says the government urgently needs to
channels more money directly into funding academic salaries.

For the survey, a questionnaire was sent to all 90 members of the UK Deans
of Science Committee, seeking views about the ease or difficulty of
appointing high quality researchers.

Of the 30 who replied, 37% said they had had no choice but to appoint
graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and lecturers who would not
have been considered good enough in the past. 57% had been left with empty
posts.

"This just goes to show that recruitment and retention is a real problem
for British universities. Almost everyone is finding it harder to get good
staff," Dr Cotgreave said.

Budget boost

Last month, the UK Chancellor, Gordon Brown, announced in his comprehensive
spending review that the science budget would be raised by 5.4% per year in
real terms.

This was in addition to a £1bn joint capital investment package announced
two weeks previously with the Wellcome Trust research charity.

Taken together, Mr Brown said, it meant science spending would increase by
an average of 7% a year for three years.

Just a few weeks ago, a £4m drive was launched to reverse the "brain drain"
of scientists leaving Britain, and to persuade the "stars" of science to stay.

Under the scheme, the salaries of 50 selected science academics could be
topped up to around £100,000 a year.

The Royal Society-backed initiative will be funded jointly by the
Department of Trade and Industry and the Wolfson Foundation research
charity, which are both contributing £2m.

'Spiral of decline'

SBS has welcomed these funding boosts, but maintains that the issue of poor
pay for the vast majority of university researchers has yet to be tackled.

Dr Cotgreave said: "It's ludicrous that a new lecturer, with at least six
years of university training, earns £16,000, when he or she has huge
student debts. These people can earn much, much more elsewhere."

He cited as an example the recent news that management consultants Andersen
is offering each new recruit in this year's graduate intake a £10,000
bonus, on top of the £28,000 starting salary, to enable them to pay off
their student debts.

"If we can't attract the best people now, in 20 years time there won't be
top quality people to run the labs.

"It's a spiral of decline. If the people in the labs are no good, science
will be no good - there won't be the cutting edge teaching training people
going into industry, and we won't have the world class science that we have
to have."

Ring-fenced cash

Dr Cotgreave said research had shown that academic salaries were about 30%
too low.

"No one expecting everyone to get 30% pay rises immediately, but people
could be getting substantial 10% pay rises."

He said it was the place of the Department for Education and Employment
(DfEE), which was ultimately responsible for higher education funding, to
address the situation.

"What the DfEE doesn't understand is that it is responsible for the bulk of
the science base, the new ideas which will create the new economy," he said.

A DfEE spokeswoman said half of the £100m allocated to higher education in
last month's spending review had been ring-fenced for preventing the "brain
drain" of academics from universities.

Universities could spend this money on salaries as they wished, she said.

Related to this story:
Cash for 'premier league' scientists (26 Jul 00 | Sci/Tech)
Extra science money 'most welcome' (18 Jul 00 | Education)
University research 'underfunded' (24 May 00 | Education)
Graduates going for gold (22 Aug 00 | UK)
Lecturers reject pay offer (12 Apr 00 | Education)
Universities struggle to keep academics (25 Feb 00 | Education)
'World class' science pledge (05 Jul 00 | Education)
Cash to widen university access (19 Jul 00 | Education)

Internet links:
Save British Science

BBC News Online: Education
"http://news.bbc.co.uk/low/english/education/newsid_895000/895809.stm"

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