STUDENTS have been lining up to cash in on a university scientist's research: instead of being up all night studying, they can lie down all night sleeping.

Dr Robert Thurneer, of Edinburgh University, has been offering #50-a-night for volunteers to rest their weary heads in his sleep lab.

He wants to solve the mystery of snoring.

The students, tired, of course, from their studies, flocked to his door to be paid as human guinea pigs.

Suitable candidates arrived at his lab at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary at 10pm and filled out a health questionnaire.

They were then kitted out with a range of sleep monitoring devices to allow Dr Thurneer to watch their progress during the hours of darkness.

The students were fitted with a special mask, and bands around their chests and abdomens. Dr Thurneer also carries out ultrasound tests.

Dr Thurneer, from Switzerland, said: ''I have had an amazing response. Over 70 people have offered to take part in my research.

''A lot are students who are doing it for the money, but others aren't that bothered about the fee.

''It is amazing that everyone so far has slept well.

''I don't take anyone suffering from insomnia and the people have all fallen asleep quite easily.''

However, after spending three weeks monitoring how other people sleep, Dr Thurneer said he could do with a good night's rest himself.

He said: ''I am not as refreshed as I once was.

''Because I am only doing routine work, it's not a problem, but I couldn't do high-performance tasks on this amount of sleep.''

Dr Thurneer has stopped taking on human guinea pigs and plans a further study on older age groups before revealing his results.

He has tested both men and women to understand why snoring occurs.

He said: ''Some people have a lot of airway resistance when they breathe in their sleep.

''The upper airways collapse and that results in snoring. I am trying to find out why that happens.''