California's university system is pumping £35 million into boosting professorial pay. Recent pay rises at the University of California are intended to bring salaries into line with competing universities and align pay across the system's campuses. It is not clear how many professors will get the rises, but it is more likely that the increases will go to staff whose pay has lagged behind rather than to new staff, or to those at risk of being poached by other institutions with historically higher pay.