The basic annual award of British research students is set to rise by 23 per cent in real terms over the next three years. The deal means that over five years the minimum government research studentship will have risen from £5,500 (US$8,300) to £9,000 a year.

The UK Treasury announced the news last week together with a two-year, £1 billion package of investment in buildings, laboratories and equipment, which includes £230 million from the Wellcome Trust.

In recent years, both industry and academia have expressed concern over the quality of research students. Extra money has helped: in 1998, following an increase of £1,000, the number of unfilled studentships at the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council halved (see Nature 401, 519; 1999).

But a study commissioned last year by the Office of Science and Technology showed that undergraduate debt had a significant impact on the supply of research students, and revealed a shortage of PhD candidates in many areas, including the biological and physical sciences.

The government has not yet said how much extra money will be available to cover the increases, leading some to fear that student numbers could fall. Earlier this year the life-science community called for a pay increase, even if it meant cutting back on numbers (see Nature 403, 347; 2000). But the Treasury has denied that this is their intention. A spokesperson said the aim was to have more and better research students, and that “this does not mean fewer studentships”.

Bob Price, the head of human and corporate resources at the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), welcomed the announcement with “open arms” and expects it to raise the quality and quantity of research students.

Brown: plans to increase funding, but some fear a cut in the number of studentships. Credit: PA

But earlier this year John Taylor, the director-general of the research councils, decided that stipends did not have to be harmonized, and that individual councils could choose whatever level they thought appropriate. Accordingly, the BBSRC's minimum went up to £7,380 and is under review. Price says it could increase beyond the amount announced by the Treasury, but that this would “need a reduction in the number of places”.

But although welcoming the money in principle, many scientists are reserving judgement until the small print is revealed later this month — particularly as the announcements appeared as a leak to two newspapers of a speech by Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and as selective details released by the Treasury.

Indeed, science may not be a net beneficiary. Money could be redistributed from other budgets, as was the case with government departmental spending (see Nature 404, 909; 2000), or clawed back elsewhere. The full results will be known when the government releases details of the Comprehensive Spending Review in a few weeks.