The fact that the notion of salary leads you to &quot;corporate culture&quot; suggests true relationship between work conditions in corporate and academia. There is nothing inherently corporate about good reward for work.<p>Fundamental research is important and should attract top talent - but saying that individuals should correct errors of society leads to ugly, ugly effects like resentment and elitism.<p>There is no alternative to correcting incentives. As soon as people start to connect &quot;good salary&quot; with &quot;academic culture&quot;, everything will be OK.