Richard Sykes, university administrator and devil's advocate, wonders why a student graduating from his institution would ever want to go on to do a PhD. Other options are much more palatable, says the rector of Imperial College, London, tongue planted at least half in his cheek. “You can go to the City and earn about £50,000 (US$78,000) a year,” he notes. Whereas doing a PhD in Britain means enduring years of scant financial support and increased competition — even for lecturer positions. “The prospect is not very encouraging,” Sykes says.

Sykes has repeatedly called for higher salaries at UK universities, which would help to make scientific careers more attractive. But he notes that better salaries alone won't protect against a potential scientific squeeze — Sykes says there has been a general drop in UK undergraduate enrolment in the sciences over the past few years. “There are other things that can attract people to places like Imperial,” he says. Reputation, which you can't purchase, is one; infrastructure, which you can, is another.

But where do you find the cash to buy the tools you need to attract investigators in economically tough times? Equipment such as a 900-MHz nuclear magnetic resonance machine doesn't come cheap, even if its presence in a lab might help to lure in a world-class structural biologist. Sykes says that borrowing, begging and applying for grants are the only options.

Imperial has lately had success on some of those fronts. A £30-million donation by an American alumnus is helping to fund a new business school. And a recently announced £23.2-million loan from the European Investment Bank will help the college to upgrade its research and development facilities. But only time will tell if these investments will allow Imperial to attract more students and scientists to the campus.