4 ms·

In Germany you get around 2000-2500 netto per month for doing a PhD. Its like an entry level engineering salary, but instead of working for someone else, you ar

by vrnm 13y ago

In Germany you get around 2000-2500 netto per month for doing a PhD. Its like an entry level engineering salary, but instead of working for someone else, you are working for your self (on your own PhD, which is a lot of fun). Furthermore, you are still a student, so you get all the student benefits available (really cheap transportation, cheaper food, cheaper sports, travels...).

apl 13y ago
That applies to some of the hard sciences (more precisely: engineering, as well as some branches of physics and chemistry), but not in general. PhD students in biology earn around 1400 after taxes; a philosopher or what have you is lucky to make any money at all.
- mjn 13y ago
  This depends heavily on the country. In Denmark a PhD student in any discipline will earn a salary of about €2000/month after taxes. However the positions are somewhat more competitive as a result: professors have fewer PhD students at a time than American professors do, usually only one or two, sometimes three. The downside of that is that it's harder to get into grad school. But the upside is that the situation of lower ratios of PhD students to existing professors makes getting academic jobs after graduation easier, because the number of new PhDs graduating is not hugely out of proportion to the number of academic positions opening up.
wolfgke 13y ago
A short time ago I started with my PhD in mathematics (in Germany, too). IMHO it's rather difficult to get a "Doktorandenstelle" (salary for doing PhD). The reason is that many universities are (in my opinion) underfunded. If you get one - lucky you. The only other possibility for getting money for doing your PhD is trying to get a scholarship. If you aren't near to either a big religion or a political party (I'm not to any of both), there's virtually only "Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes" (German National Academic Foundation) which has really strict (and many people say: really strange) conditions of admission.

by vrnm 13y ago

apl 13y ago

That applies to some of the hard sciences (more precisely: engineering, as well as some branches of physics and chemistry), but not in general. PhD students in biology earn around 1400 after taxes; a philosopher or what have you is lucky to make any money at all.

mjn 13y ago
This depends heavily on the country. In Denmark a PhD student in any discipline will earn a salary of about €2000/month after taxes. However the positions are somewhat more competitive as a result: professors have fewer PhD students at a time than American professors do, usually only one or two, sometimes three. The downside of that is that it's harder to get into grad school. But the upside is that the situation of lower ratios of PhD students to existing professors makes getting academic jobs after graduation easier, because the number of new PhDs graduating is not hugely out of proportion to the number of academic positions opening up.

wolfgke 13y ago

A short time ago I started with my PhD in mathematics (in Germany, too). IMHO it's rather difficult to get a "Doktorandenstelle" (salary for doing PhD). The reason is that many universities are (in my opinion) underfunded. If you get one - lucky you. The only other possibility for getting money for doing your PhD is trying to get a scholarship. If you aren't near to either a big religion or a political party (I'm not to any of both), there's virtually only "Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes" (German National Academic Foundation) which has really strict (and many people say: really strange) conditions of admission.