Dundee University is the first in Scotland to set new pay scales

The university is the first in Scotland to set new pay scales as part of the new national framework agreement.

Under the agreement individual universities must agree on a pay structure with their trade unions.

Following negotiations in Dundee, lecturers at the university will start on �28,009 from August 2006, a 15% increase on current starting salaries.

The deal, which was made with the Association of University Teachers (AUT), will see postdoctoral researchers given a 24% increase on their current starting wage, bringing their starting salary to �24,886.

New pay scales are also being agreed for administrative, library and computing staff.

International competition

Sir Alan Langlands, principal and vice chancellor of Dundee University, said he hoped the salary rises would attract world-class employees.

"The university is operating in an increasingly competitive international labour market and we need to encourage the best possible talent to pursue a career in academia," he said.

"Having a competitive pay structure is an important factor in ensuring that we attract world-class talent to Dundee University."

University secretary David Duncan said the AUT still had to ballot its members on the proposed pay structures, but was confident it would be accepted as the measures had been recommended by the union.

"We have just opened a new life sciences building with 250 posts and are actively recruiting people," he said.

Frankly, this is a wake up call to the rest of the higher education sector in Scotland who will have to work hard to catch up David Bleiman Association of University Teachers

"This university is absolutely dependent on being able to compete internationally for the best academics and researchers.

"These increases in starting salaries will help do that."

Dundee University's pay deal goes beyond the terms of the national agreement, which agreed that university staff would not face pay cuts as part of the new salary grading.

David Bleiman, AUT regional assistant general secretary, said the university was responding to the need to compete with English universities which had already agreed new pay structures.

He said: "It is now well positioned to maintain its comparative position in an increasingly competitive market and that can only be good for staff, students and the Dundee economy.