As a graduate student at a US university, I object strongly to any implication that PhD students should take other jobs on top of their already demanding research (Nature 549, 297–299; 2017). That is not, nor should it be, a viable solution to academia's funding problems.

I am pleased that this option seemed to work for the scientists you feature. Yet the real issue is that graduate students and junior researchers are often not paid a living wage, even though they routinely work in excess of 40 hours per week.

It should not be our responsibility to find extra external work, which, incidentally, would violate the terms of employment at my own and many other universities. As a community, we should be ashamed that side jobs are even considered necessary for anyone working in academia.