Written Evidence Submitted by Professor David Leake

(DIV0115)

The pay of university science lecturers active in research is far too low. I used to be a consultant for a major pharmaceutical company and I know I had to work far harder as a university science lecturer than the scientists working for the company and was paid far less than scientists in the pharmaceutical sector.

Not to put too fine a point on it, university science lectures active in research are of more use to the country in terms of medical advances and prosperity (as illustrated by the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine) and have to work far harder than lecturers in the arts subjects but are paid about the same. Unfortunately, there is not the drive nor means for universities to pay science lecturers more than arts lectures.

I would like to propose that the government sets up a merit award scheme for university science lectures active in research, similar to the one used for consultants in the NHS. This would increase the recruitment and motivation of the best science researchers and would help to keep them in this country. It would not cost much. If the funds available were just 1% of the university lecturer salary costs in the country, it would make a big difference. Assuming that about half the lecturers are science lecturers and about half the science lecturers are research active (as about half the universities in this country are research active), about a quarter of lecturers would be eligible to apply for the merit awards. If the success rate for applicants was about 40%, this would mean an increase in salary of the successful applicants of about 10% on average. It would be a big incentive to them, as a 10% increase in a modest salary would increase the quality of their lives and that of their families.

(November 2022)