In their Editorial “Students and postdocs deserve more” (10 February, p. 519), S. M. Malcom and S. Parikh describe elements of academia’s culture and governance that have stirred justified distress and protest among our trainees. I disagree, however, with their conclusion that funding agencies alone can address the problems. Funders indeed have important capacities, including increasing stipends and benefits for students and postdocs, but academic research institutions also hold both power and responsibility to effect change.
