How much money do you get for living expenses when doing a PhD?

chopsuey2008

How much money do you get for living expenses when doing a PhD?

pwd

Depends on what type of funding you get but generally 13k-14k a year. Ircset are the best afaik. Some colleges insist on you doing classes for free in return (even if you aren't being funded by the college which is taking the p!ss really). Most people supplement that with part time work.

chopsuey2008

But is a PhD not a full time job? How would you have time to work !?

Dr Strange

chopsuey2008 wrote: »

But is a PhD not a full time job? How would you have time to work !?

It depends. You can do a PhD part-time as well.

pwd

Several people in my office work part time (mainly teaching) and do work on phds fulltime also.
It depends on the project and the supervisor - and on the phd student for that matter! You generally have much more flexibility in a phd than a regular job, but you need to be careful not to take on too much at once.

Red Alert

UCD eng give around 16k.

mloc

some biomedical phds would be 18-22k, maybe even a little more.

Turbulent Bill

The standard for new science/eng/maths Ph.Ds seems to be 16-18k; Arts is usually a bit lower. Remember that this is tax-free, though if you do get paid for additional work this will be taxed.

brianthebard

Do all Phd students get some sort of funding or living expense, or is it only when scholarships are offered?

djpbarry

brianthebard wrote: »

Do all Phd students get some sort of funding or living expense, or is it only when scholarships are offered?

I'm not sure what you mean by scholarship?

Generally a supervisor will secure funding for a project (which includes a salary for the student) before advertising the position.

brianthebard

there's a phd I'm interested in (www.textscontextscultures.ie) which says there are 30 scholarships of €16000 p.a. available. the unis involved are capable of taking on more students than scholarships available (ie. TCD has 12 scholarships and will/can take 20 students, depending on demand I guess.) So what happens the other eight?

m1ke

The funding for the arts and social sciences is 16k from the IRCHSS. So it's very similar to science etc... but the catch is they are quite difficult to get. Another issue is that they only offer 3 years support when the average PhD takes 4 years (in UCD anyway). I know a lot of people who are on really crappy funding. If you don't win one of the good ones it is usually possible to get at least 7k and your fees covered.

g'em

brianthebard wrote: »

there's a phd I'm interested in (www.textscontextscultures.ie) which says there are 30 scholarships of €16000 p.a. available. the unis involved are capable of taking on more students than scholarships available (ie. TCD has 12 scholarships and will/can take 20 students, depending on demand I guess.) So what happens the other eight?

That means your salary will be €16k pa, which is around the going rate. As mentioned Biomedical Science scholarships (called scholarship b/c they're tax-free), Eng, Maths, CS and certain sciences will have higher stipends.

Universities have to apply to funding agencies (SFI, HRB, EPA etc.) for grants to carry out research, and will generally request monies for PhD stipends as part of that grants. So TCD probably has funding already acquired for 12 stipends but space for 8 more which they haven't got funding for. Individual students may also apply to schemes like IRCSET for self-funding (bring the money with them, the univeristy provides the space).

Turbulent Bill

brianthebard wrote: »

there's a phd I'm interested in (www.textscontextscultures.ie) which says there are 30 scholarships of €16000 p.a. available. the unis involved are capable of taking on more students than scholarships available (ie. TCD has 12 scholarships and will/can take 20 students, depending on demand I guess.) So what happens the other eight?

At a guess I'd say that the overall research programme can fund a total of 30 scholarships between the individual institutions. Presuming that the application process is competitive, if 20 of the top 30 applications want to go to TCD then this can happen, but smaller departments may only be able to take smaller numbers even if the demand is high. Only a guess though, you should check with the programme itself.

pwd

I think that the 16k figure is before colllege fees - so it is effectively 13-14k.

Esmereldina

pwd wrote: »

I think that the 16k figure is before colllege fees - so it is effectively 13-14k.

Nope, if it's IRCHSS it'll cover your fees too. Funding is pretty much on a par with IRCSET, the only catch being that it's a lot more diffuclt to get. While in science it's the norm to have funding for your phd, quite a lot of humanities students won't have scholarships. This is beginning to change now though there are a lot more funding options out there. As well as the IRCHSS, most universities and departments/faculties/schools will offer their own scholarships. They mightn't be worth as much as might be linked to particular projects or themes, but it's worth browsing the websites to find out.

kevmy

If you don't get IRCHSS/IRCSET remember there are other sources of funding. I get a scholarship from my faculty of €9,000 plus fees. I also get some money from my supervisors project fund to take me up to around €15,000 a year.

I applied for IRCSET and didn't get it but I still got the other funding easy enough. Talk to supervisors, PhD students in the relevant area and the college faculties and they will try to get you something.

But remember if you have a couple of options really consider both in depth. If one in Dublin is offering you 2 grand more than one in Galway you could still be better taking the one in Galway due to expenses. Also look closely at what you are required to do. If they say you gotta teach it could end up stealing all your time

brianthebard

Man this is confusing. Can you apply for the county council grant as well if you are getting money for the phd? I don't want to sound greedy, but if some of you seem to think funding isn't always that good, plus I don't know if I'll get a scholarship. Just trying to look at all the options.

pwd

You don't sound greedy. Unless you like living like a monk, there's no way the basic funding will suffice - especially if you're doing it in Dublin. I inquired about the grant though and was told you can't get it if you're getting funding.

I also get some money from my supervisors project fund to take me up to around €15,000 a year.

Interesting to hear that. It's probably worthwhile for a lot of people to ask for this.

brianthebard

brianthebard wrote: »

Man this is confusing. Can you apply for the county council grant as well if you are getting money for the phd? I don't want to sound greedy, but if some of you seem to think funding isn't always that good, plus I don't know if I'll get a scholarship. Just trying to look at all the options.

Depends... for the postgrad options the limit is €16,000 in funding (or at least it used to be) whereas you normally received €16,002 from IRCSET. So it depends on your funding situation.

Turbulent Bill

kevmy wrote: »

If you don't get IRCHSS/IRCSET remember there are other sources of funding. I get a scholarship from my faculty of €9,000 plus fees. I also get some money from my supervisors project fund to take me up to around €15,000 a year.

Once you get going on the postgrad, it's no harm to look for a raise every so often. I asked for a review at the end of each year, and usually got a reasonable increase. You'd be amazed how many postgrads complain about their salary and yet do nothing to change it.

pwd

Myth wrote: »

Depends... for the postgrad options the limit is €16,000 in funding (or at least it used to be) whereas you normally received €16,002 from IRCSET. So it depends on your funding situation.

Really? I've been googling for information about this since seeing your post and haven't been able to find anything. I rang my Co Council before i started and they just said no you can't get a grant if you're getting other funding without asking for details.

Does anyone reading this get a grant as well as funding?

kevmy

I don't get the Co. Co. grant but some of my mates do.

I think what happens is that the Co. Co. will pay your fees if it's your first research postgrad after your degree.

I don't think you can get a maintainence grant though. But if you're only getting money from you're project funding this can be a big help.

By the way a lot of guys get project/departmental funding as well as the present scholarship that I'm on. It depends on how well your supervisor is looked after.

It's also worth noting I got an increase this year I think I was on 11/12 grand last year so I've gone up about 4 grand.

As for limits I think the only thing limiting is tax purposes if you go over a certain amount you it's not called a grant but payment. And you have to pay tax.

pwd

pwd wrote: »

Really? I've been googling for information about this since seeing your post and haven't been able to find anything. I rang my Co Council before i started and they just said no you can't get a grant if you're getting other funding without asking for details.

Does anyone reading this get a grant as well as funding?

Sorry for the delay, I haven't had time to reply...

From http://www.education.ie/servlet/blobservlet/support_higher.doc?language=EN:

Clause 2 wrote:

The provisions at (ii) or (iii) do not include awards such as scholarships, prizes or bursaries, made by the institution being attended or postgraduate research grants where the grant received does not exceed a specified amount, which for the 2007/08 academic year, is specified to be €16,000. In addition the provision at (ii) does not include awards to candidates under the Student Assistance Fund, the Millennium Partnership Fund and the Fund for Students with Disabilities.

pwd

Thanks

brianthebard

pwd wrote: »

You don't sound greedy. Unless you like living like a monk, there's no way the basic funding will suffice - especially if you're doing it in Dublin. I inquired about the grant though and was told you can't get it if you're getting funding.

I was living on at most 8000 a year doing my BA, so maybe I'm a monk!?!? Or are there extra costs to a Phd that I don't know about? I don't know anyone in 4th level so this is all new.

pwd

There are no extra costs in doing a PhD than in doing a Bachelors that I'm aware of.
There may be social factors that make the money seem less though. Personally I started a PhD after having been working in industry and I'm much more aware of having a fairly low income than I was as an undergraduate: I'm accustomed to having more now so I spend more as a matter of course; most people I know have salaries (instead of most people I know also being undergraduates); I'm older so things like being able to buy a house are more immediate considerations instead of stuff to think about after I graduate.

Esmereldina

pwd wrote: »

There are no extra costs in doing a PhD than in doing a Bachelors that I'm aware of.
There may be social factors that make the money seem less though. Personally I started a PhD after having been working in industry and I'm much more aware of having a fairly low income than I was as an undergraduate: I'm accustomed to having more now so I spend more as a matter of course; most people I know have salaries (instead of most people I know also being undergraduates); I'm older so things like being able to buy a house are more immediate considerations instead of stuff to think about after I graduate.

Yep, living on no money is fine for the 3/4 years of your undergrad, when all your friends are penniless students too... it starts getting a little more annoying if you have to do it for another 3/4 years, when most of your old college friends will be on decent salaries, and getting mortgages cars, holidays and all the rest...

sitstill

brianthebard wrote: »

there's a phd I'm interested in (www.textscontextscultures.ie) which says there are 30 scholarships of €16000 p.a. available. the unis involved are capable of taking on more students than scholarships available (ie. TCD has 12 scholarships and will/can take 20 students, depending on demand I guess.) So what happens the other eight?

hey Brian, which PhD and college were you looking at? I was considering applying to this too

brianthebard

Was thinking of Galway, its a nice town, wouldn't like to live in Dublin. Do you mean what core course I was thinking of doing?

edit: I'm also looking at this ma; http://go4th.ie/english/ma_culture.html, its the sort of topics I'm interesting in.

second edit: do all fourth level students have to pay fees?

kevmy

brianthebard wrote: »

Was thinking of Galway, its a nice town, wouldn't like to live in Dublin. Do you mean what core course I was thinking of doing?

edit: I'm also looking at this ma; http://go4th.ie/english/ma_culture.html, its the sort of topics I'm interesting in.

second edit: do all fourth level students have to pay fees?

Well technically we all have to pay fees at all levels it's just the government pay for them.

It's the same at PG level. I'm not aware of one person in dept. (~50PG's) who is paying the fees from there own pocket. All are covered by IRSCET/Scholarship/Co.Co./EPA or other funding.

djpbarry

brianthebard wrote: »

do all fourth level students have to pay fees?

If you're doing a taught masters then yes; research postgrads are generally covered by grants.

brianthebard

So either way they are covered-good stuff, one less thing to worry about.

Grants (i.e. funds) aren't always guaranteed for the courses though. If you do it part-time you probably won't get any funds for it... though you could get tax back possibly.