Life-science researchers in US universities receive $33,000 a year on average from the medical drug and device industry, according to a survey of 1,663 researchers published this month (D. E. Zinner and E. G. Campbell J. Am. Med. Assoc. 302, 969–976; 2009). The study found that some receive as much as $110,000 from industry. More than half (51.9%) said they maintain a relationship with industry. The study found that such relationships provide significant benefits both to the researcher and to science. Among faculty members most involved with industry research, nearly half said it “contributed to their most important scientific work and led to research that would not otherwise have been possible”.