WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CHRIS MONCUS
The United Kingdom's Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) may fund as many as 1,000 fewer PhDs this year, ScienceInsider reports—reducing the 2,902 new doctoral students it funded in the 2010-11 academic year to just 1,900. While this news represents a "worst-case scenario," a more conservative estimate would still entail a 20 percent drop in funded PhDs over the next 5 years, Atti Emecz, EPSRC's director for communications, information and strategy, told ScienceInsider. The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, another of the UK’s seven Research Councils, is also likely to see a reduction in funding for PhDs.
One reason for the drop is the EPSRC's decision to stop funding students by allowing them to be included in research project proposals. This had become ...
