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Postdoctoral research staff have received little attention in the debate over the new pay structure ("AUT and employers square up over pay", THES , December 5). We stand to lose almost as much as academic-related staff. The Association of University Teachers' calculation of a loss of ?20,059 over ten years may be an underestimate because it assumes promotion. As a postdoctorate at Cambridge University, which admits that it has been "keeping academic salaries low", I am not confident that we will receive promotion automatically. It is already hard to retain and recruit contract research staff. These proposed pay scales will make it even harder.

Nick Savage
Honorary secretary, Cambridge AUT