Professor David Delpy, (right) chief executive of EPSRC, said: "These grants mark a significant investment in talented future PhD students who will help drive forward the UK's economy."

DTGs provide a flexible block of funding that allows universities to recruit students who meet the strategic needs of the university as well as national and regional needs.

DTGs are allocated each year to a wide selection of British universities. They are awarded on the basis of EPSRC research grant income. The DTG allows institutions to be flexible in terms of staff recruitment and retention as well as varying the length of support (between three and four years) dependant on the project.

As part of this year’s exercise, Universities have a target of converting 10% of their 2009 DTG funding into CASE awards. CASE awards are designed to incorporate an element of collaboration and industrially related training to broaden the student experience.

Responding to the news on The Scotsman website a Glasgow contributor notes: "£9.7m of British tax payers money! 8% is Scotland's share of the UK population! 11.83% is the over inflated share of British tax payers cash being used to prop up bankrupt Scottish universities. 6% is the amount of Scottish full-time under graduates electing to study in England. 1% is the amount of English fulltime undergraduates electing to study in Scotland. 7.3% is the amount of Scotland's contribution of full-time new undergradutes 2008."

Sources: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk
http://news.scotsman.com