Today's news

Young 'will lose half of their pay to taxes'
Young people will have to hand over almost half their salary to the taxman, according to a report which shows the escalating financial pressures facing new graduates. Rising taxes and the overhaul of the pension system mean that students starting at university this year will be spending 48 per cent of their income on tax and other payments until they are 35. Many young people are already heavily in debt. Since 2000, graduate debt has increased by 318 per cent, while the average expected debt for new undergraduates rose by 8 per cent in 2006 to nearly £15,000.
The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian

Jobs bonanza for Saïd graduates
The inaugural class of Saïd Business School's Masters in Financial Economics programme has been a tremendous success, according to Howard Jones, its director. Of the 70 students who were on the fulltime, nine-month programme, more than 80 per cent received job offers within a month of graduating. Graduates are considering a variety of offers in sectors including finance, luxury goods, consulting and energy. However, leading investment banks Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan have taken on the highest amount of graduates. "As you would expect from Oxford [University], the programme is very intellectually rigorous," says Mr Jones.
The Financial Times

Professor commits suicide after catching dementia from tick bite
One of the country's top experts on modern life may have killed himself after catching a rare brain disease from a tiny insect bite. University professor Alasdair Crockett was found dead in woods near his home on Saturday 48 hours after he was reported missing. His distraught widow has told police the the leading academic was suffering from anxiety after he was bitten by a wood tick that carries the potentially-deadly Lyne Disease. The illness can usually be treated and cleared up with antibiotics but in extremely rare cases if it is not caught and treated early it attacks the nervous system leading to dementia.
The Evening Standard (London)

Stem cell bank to begin supplying researchers
Scientists will meet today to give a green light to Britain's pioneering stem cell bank, allowing researchers to request embryonic stem cells for the first time. The £9 million bank, the first of its kind in the world, was set up in 2003 by the Medical Research Council and will ultimately hold every kind of stem cell created in Britain, with hundreds of others from countries such as the US and Australia. It will supply cells to researchers around the world. Today's meeting at the Government's National Institute for Biological Standards and Control in Hertfordshire will confirm six kinds of embryonic cells are ready to be released, with others including adult and foetal cells to follow.
The Guardian

UK and US to launch new defence research
British and US defence establishments are set to announce their first joint research project today into advanced communications and computer techniques aimed, among other things, at allowing the two countries' armed forces to improve cooperation. The aim of the research is to use new ideas about the operation of networks to allow better communications up and down the line of command and between soldiers in the field. The work should make it easier for new units to connect into military communication networks without compromising security. Jack Lemon, research director at the UK's Research Acquisition Organisation, said the study was aimed at "developing technologies to support the individual soldier on the ground".
The Financial Times

From the weekend's papers:

Saturday

• Imperial College London's £1 billion science park in beauty spot is rejected. The Daily Telegraph
  
• People with high IQ scores are less likely to suffer from hangovers, according to research by Edinburgh scientists. The Scotsman
  
• Television personality Lorraine Kelly has been forced to apologise for encouraging new university students to binge-drink and have sex. The Scotsman

Sunday

• Students arriving to start their studies at Dundee university have been targeted by undercover police officers in a bid to cut drink spiking. The Scotsman