A desiccated image

The article "Pack science off to revive the wellspring of creativity" (9 October) on the matter of the supply of young Asian scientists to the UK was let down by its illustration.

Why two apparently Asian men were shown hauling suitcases away from a parched desert I cannot fathom. Perhaps they were departing a UK research landscape from which funding appears to be about to dry up for the thriving green research fields of home. Or perhaps Times Higher Education simply reached for the first prejudiced image that sprang to mind.

Tom Simonite, London.