Ensure that our science-based graduate students are provided a salary commensurate with their experience and commitment

The attrition rates of PhD programs in science (nearly 50%) suggest the system is broken, and one problem imparticular is a feeling of under appreciation and under compensation. Students who decide to pursue a Master's or Ph.D. degree in the life sciences set out initially with the hope of bettering the lives of others through scientific discovery. Often though, these students wind up burned out or disenfranchised due to 60+ hour work weeks and few holidays or vacations. They shoulder the responsibilities of writing grants and publications while juggling families. These are highly educated, experienced scientists in their late twenties and early thirties making the equivalent of $8.10 an hour. The country's scientific future is riding on this, give these young professionals a living wage.