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In your article (THES, September 15) on the demand for MRes you imply that the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council has funded the new MRes courses by decreasing PhD studentships. This is not the position. The BBSRC has maintained the number of new PhD studentships being made available in 1995 (640) in line with the numbers inherited from Agricultural and Food Research Council (100) and Science and Engineering Research Council (540). We intend to hold to this number again in 1996 subject to the Public Expenditure Survey settlement.

It is true that "with a limited pot something has to give" but your assumption that this would be PhD studentships was wrong.

Tom Blundell Chief Executive, BBSRC