Sir

Tina Yates' statement (Nature 386, 754; 1997) that directors within the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) are not concerned to create “an environment and career structure within which scientists can flourish over the longer term” is wrong.

In the NERC Centre for Coastal and Marine Sciences (CCMS), we have recently offered open-ended employment to 24 out of 36 (66 per cent) fixed-term (that is, impermanent) staff of more than five years' standing on contract. Just four (11 per cent) of the contracts have been allowed to expire; the remainder have been renewed for later review. This action is consistent with both the spirit and the letter of NERC policy.

Further, at a time of severe pressure on our core budget, it amounts to an expression of confidence by institute directors in the role of young scientists in maintaining the scientific vigour of the laboratories. Young research staff employed on contract have never been viewed by the CCMS laboratories as some sort of flexibility buffer. On the contrary, they are an essential part of the research life of any active laboratory, and we have welcomed the opportunity to give practical expression to this view through the recent NERC employment policy.