The postgraduates, chosen for their “excellent potential” to become future leaders in environmental science and sustainable business, should consider selling Avon products, looking after pets and taking part in clinical trials to tackle the spending crisis for life.
The advice – issued on Wednesday by the prestigious Aries PhD Fellowship, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council at the University of East Anglia – provoked outrage among researchers who described the letter as “appalling”, “ridiculous” and “unbelievable”.
An email to PhD students on the program acknowledged that many are finding it “increasingly challenging” to live on their grants, currently £15,600 a year, and attached a three-page document from the UEA careers office outlining options for connecting both ends.
Before making specific recommendations, the paper warns that many students are not allowed to do more than six hours of paid work a week, as this would prevent them from completing their course on time.
The letter describes how PhD students can supplement their finances with university-level teaching and learning, tutorials and exams, and goes on to suggest dog walking, pet sitting, paid clinical trials and selling Avon products as alternative sources of income.
Adriana Lowe, who received her PhD from the University of Kent in 2019, said she was “outraged” by the proposals. Natalie Starkey of the Open University called the advice “amazing”, while Jess Wade of Imperial College London called it “appalling”. Professor Thibault Gruber of the University of Geneva said it was “ridiculous as hell”.
“This is another example of how PhD students are completely disenchanted with the system. Although they are called students, they produce vital research that in many cases has a direct and significant effect on the wider society,” Lowe said. “These are people who advise the government on policy, advances in medical research, tackling the climate crisis, etc., and we expect them to live like teenagers, despite the fact that they are often adults with children of their own.”
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A spokesman for UKRI Research and Innovation (UKRI), the UK’s main science funding programme, said the letter did not reflect their position, adding: “We recognize the effect that the increased cost of living is having on students and look forward to seeing if we can provide additional financial support.”
Professor Jenny Barclay, director of the doctoral training programme, said: “Firstly and unequivocally we are sorry for any offense caused. The main concern here is the cost of living crisis and its disproportionate impact on our research students. Action needed soon – many students are reporting extreme financial hardship now.
“UKRI is reviewing this and following discussions at our Aries Summer School we have committed to gathering evidence on how best to lobby UKRI around this. But we’re also committed to offering some practical advice. The intention here was to provide support as an interim measure while we try to improve the global response to this issue for students.”
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