4 ms·

You’re comparing germany the country with Berkeley, a small place in california. Maybe it’s more appropriate to compare Munich, London, Paris, Amsterdam with B

by j7ake 4y ago

You’re comparing germany the country with Berkeley, a small place in california. Maybe it’s more appropriate to compare Munich, London, Paris, Amsterdam with Berkeley and see how lecturer salaries there compare with each other. hint: Berkeley adjunct has higher salary even compared to some tenured professors in comparable cities in Europe.

joshvm 4y ago
If you're comparing to expensive places to live, Switzerland pays academics well. Postdoc salaries are around 85-100k (CHF, which is about the same as USD these days). Many universities don't have much in the way of a pay ladder though (ETH maxes out at 3 years experience). Full professors can hit 250k+. A studio in Zurich is 1500+/mo though which is comparable to central London, but competition is fiercer. In the UK an experienced postdoc, or one with a competing offer, can make around 40k before having to push for lectureships. Professorial salaries start at 60k and maybe hit six figures for senior staff. Munich is fairly high, I think between 50-70k depending on who you ask (TV-L E13). Scandinavia is not great compared to the high cost of living, last time I checked.
- j7ake 4y ago
  So postdoc salary in Switzerland is still less than teaching adjunct in Berkeley, so to me Berkeley still pays very high.
  - joshvm 4y ago
    Yes exactly, when I saw $100k I thought that sounded pretty good for an academic salary basically anywhere else except Switzerland. A better comparison is somewhere like Oxford/Cambridge which both have extremely high rent/income ratios - some of the worst in the country - many postdocs, and almost all PhDs, can't afford to live alone. A room is close to 1k a month which is absurd in the UK.
taurath 4y ago
I followed the comparison the GP put up. And yes by all means compare Berkeley to Munich or Berlin or any of those cities other than London, where despite being expensive for Europe they don’t come close to Berkeley in terms of cost

by j7ake 4y ago

joshvm 4y ago

If you're comparing to expensive places to live, Switzerland pays academics well. Postdoc salaries are around 85-100k (CHF, which is about the same as USD these days). Many universities don't have much in the way of a pay ladder though (ETH maxes out at 3 years experience). Full professors can hit 250k+. A studio in Zurich is 1500+/mo though which is comparable to central London, but competition is fiercer. In the UK an experienced postdoc, or one with a competing offer, can make around 40k before having to push for lectureships. Professorial salaries start at 60k and maybe hit six figures for senior staff. Munich is fairly high, I think between 50-70k depending on who you ask (TV-L E13). Scandinavia is not great compared to the high cost of living, last time I checked.

j7ake 4y ago
So postdoc salary in Switzerland is still less than teaching adjunct in Berkeley, so to me Berkeley still pays very high.
- joshvm 4y ago
  Yes exactly, when I saw $100k I thought that sounded pretty good for an academic salary basically anywhere else except Switzerland. A better comparison is somewhere like Oxford/Cambridge which both have extremely high rent/income ratios - some of the worst in the country - many postdocs, and almost all PhDs, can't afford to live alone. A room is close to 1k a month which is absurd in the UK.

taurath 4y ago

I followed the comparison the GP put up. And yes by all means compare Berkeley to Munich or Berlin or any of those cities other than London, where despite being expensive for Europe they don’t come close to Berkeley in terms of cost