> If $15,000 is too expensive for a company, that company is doing something very wrong, when any salary will be many multiples of that. You're very correct th

> If $15,000 is too expensive for a company, that company is doing something very wrong, when any salary will be many multiples of that. You're very correct that salary is often the single largest expense - true even in academia. This is consistently reflected in grants and other funding awards. However, a hardware expense of $15,000 would indeed be out of reach of many biology labs. How can these both be true? Simply: graduate students are responsible for the vast majority of the lab's research output. Graduate student salaries in biology are very far from many multiples of $15,000. In fact, the median salary is certainly less than the lowest multiple of that. The NRSA, (a coveted, extremely competetive grant well-beyond the reach of the majority of graduate students) pays $24,324 per year. [0] For another example, the University of Florida publishes their stipends [1] - but if you are unfamiliar with the (always) distorted presentation of the numbers, you'll have to take my word on the specifics. The standard appointment will be at .50 FTE for 11 months, a combination you won't find listed. Such a researcher's compensation for the preceding 12 months would total $20,078x11/12 = $18,404, and that's before almost certainly some $500 of mandatory fees and other unsubsidized non-tuition expenses that all graduate students get to pay tax on but immediately hand back to their employer (university). It's not much better in academia even after becoming a doctorate. Salaries in biology for post-doctoral (ie, already possessing PhD) researchers are about $36,000. [2] And that's after a delay averaging 7 years [3] earning 1/2 to 2/3 that figure at best. Those numbers are perfectly in line with graduate student compensation here at the University of Illinois, for what that's additionally worth. [0] https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-18-175.html https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-18-1... [1] https://hr.ufl.edu/manager-resources/recruitment-staffing/hiring-center/preparing-an-offer/requirements-for-an-appointment/#salaries https://hr.ufl.edu/manager-resources/recruitment-staffing/hi... [2] http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2015/12/new-phd-incomes-surprisingly-low http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2015/12/new-phd-incomes-su... [3] http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2012/08/what_is_the_value_of_a_science_phd_is_graduate_school_worth_the_effort_.html http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/201...