Some of the best brains in the country are on the poverty line, surviving on diets of noodles and frozen pizza because their annual stipend is stuck well below the rate of inflation.

PhD students make up about 60 per cent of the research workforce, but are paid just $29,863 a year. The stipend, known as the Australian Postgraduate Award, has increased just 21 per cent in the past decade, compared to the minimum wage which increased 34 per cent.