Scientific posts in private firms can be tempting, and City banks even more so, with the investment ones offering graduates with good degrees in maths, physics or engineering starting salaries as high as 60,000. But that's not the whole story. Science graduates who abandon further study prematurely could be closing down their future options. Peter Coveney, head of physical chemistry and director of the Centre for Computational Science at Queen Mary, University of London, says industry is just as keen as academe to recruit highly qualified staff. I worked for Schlumberger for seven years, and that was the minimum requirement for scientific staff.
Higher degrees are essential in pharmaceuticals, for instance.
Hands on the purse strings With this in mind, the government has pledged more money to studentships via the seven separate research councils. Each of these is responsible for a specialised field within the scientific sector. All are autonomous, but are principally funded by the Office of Science and Technology. Studentships are offered by both academic institutions and the private sector, and often by a combination of the two. Typically, a PhD studentship will last for three years, and a masters' for one year.