The number of British students starting a PhD at a UK university dropped by 15 per cent between October 1994 and 1996, to 5,472, according to recent figures from the Office of Science and Technology. Academics are concerned that when fees are introduced and maintenance grants scrapped, students will have accumulated too much debt to be able to stay on for a PhD.
Nancy Proctor: 'I was surprised to find American women sculptors in Rome between 1848 and the 1880s'