SERC FUNDED STUDENTS

[sbaker at molbiol.ox.ac.uk]

I think that the question of Ph.D. funding will always be a vexed one. I 
beleive it is also possible to obtain funding from Welcome and do a three year 
Ph.D. at L10,000, though this is taxed. The SERC, BBSRC and AFRC studentships 
will always remain low until the demand for Ph.D. places is lower - there is 
always someone who will wrok for less.

As for the idea of a a 25% cut in numbers of places to pay for a four year 
Ph.D., IMO this would be of benefit. The quality of students would rise as 
fewer places are available and it would be possible to gain some sort of 
experience while doing a doctorate. I worked in the Netherlands for a year 
immediately after my Ph.D., and in comparison to the people there, I had no 
right to call myself a post-doc. The five to seven years that it takes there 
means that you have the time to develop the project that you are given, and 
gain expereince in a wide variety of techniques. It disappoints me when German 
students come over here to try and get a "quick" Ph.D. IMO the GB Ph.D. has 
LESS value. It sometimes makes me wonder how we in Britain retain our place in 
the scientific community......

Simon Baker
Oxford, UK