PhD Salary

enda1

Hi all.

I am interested in starting a PhD next year.
The PhD is "fully funded", I imagine by IRCSET because its in the engineering sector.

So my question is, how much money do you get?
By October next year I will have been working professionally for 3 years and am quite used to a good wage (over 40k per year) and in the course of my job have hired PhDs in a couple of EU countries where the students have recieved (net) about 1550 per month.

I was looking at something on IRCSET which said the funding was about 16000 per year, so only 1333 per month. Is this the max one can expect!!?

Is there any argument about this/way to increase the salary? I find this absolutely crazy, how do they expect to attract the best people when offering such a pitiful wage?

Also is there any such this as relocation expenses? I am sure not but just chancing my arm. It would be quite costly for me to move back to Ireland with all my stuff...

Anyway, thanks for any help forthcoming!

dlofnep

The idea is that the value of the PhD outweighs the the pay you might have from another position. It's a sacrifice many have made before you, and many will continue to make in order to pursue their goals.

Do you intent going into the field of lecturing? Is there any particular motive for wanting to further your education? You need to think about what will benefit you more - 3 years of heavy research, with little in your pocket but with a long term investment, or to make a decent wage for those 3 years.

In terms of what PhD graduates earn, 40k isn't all that much to be honest. I'd say go for it if you are determined, but don't expect it to be an easy ride. If it was, everyone would do it.

Jokesetal

dlofnep wrote: »

.....It's a sacrifice many have made before you, and many will continue to make in order to pursue their goals.

I'd have to agree. Having supervised PhD's (full-time and part-time), it's the scroll with the letters that you're looking for.
short term loss = long term gain
IRCSET funding varies, but fully funded can mean stipend, materials, travel and fees in the 16K figure (sometimes 24K, if an industrial partner is involved).
Also remember that postgrads can cover teaching hours (I used to make much more P/T lecturing than what I got from the stipend - remember it's not a wage...it's not taxed!)

enda1

dlofnep wrote: »

The idea is that the value of the PhD outweighs the the pay you might have from another position. It's a sacrifice many have made before you, and many will continue to make in order to pursue their goals.

Do you intent going into the field of lecturing? Is there any particular motive for wanting to further your education? You need to think about what will benefit you more - 3 years of heavy research, with little in your pocket but with a long term investment, or to make a decent wage for those 3 years.

In terms of what PhD graduates earn, 40k isn't all that much to be honest. I'd say go for it if you are determined, but don't expect it to be an easy ride. If it was, everyone would do it.

Thanks for the reply.

I understand and expect to earn less because the benefits are not all tangible. My problem is that in France for example I will earn about 1600 net with first class services at an excellent University. How is it that Ireland can expect to attract the best people when it wont pay competitively. Our wages in all other sectors are highly competitive, why not for PhDs?

And PhDs in my company start at the salary I am now on. Though I have been on this salary for 1 year now so came to it about 1-2 years before a PhD could have from tie of Bachelor graduation.

I would like to do a PhD to change career, develop my knowledge in this field, meet contacts and start a company. I think its the best way to do it and have been thinking about it for a while. Just find the attitude of the universities and grant authorities a bit of a downer...

cotchy82

As a person who is just coming to the end of a long, but i feel worthwhile, PhD i would recommend doing it. However, regarding your funding i think if you can get 16,000 euro you are a very lucky person.

I am doing my research in environmental Science which is funded by EU strand III - basically an EU research fund, the majority of the people both in my college and in other universities/ITs that i know get funded this way and recieve 1000 euro per month (12,00 per year) -myself included.

I have lived on this quite comfortably, although had I been making 40,000 before hand im sure it would have been alot more difficult- but hey that is the choice you have to make.

Some of my friends have been funded through EPA, Dept of Agri, SFI and have recieved somewhat more - similar to the 16,000 you mention however I dont think this is the norm and if you get offered the PhD i suggest you take your supervisors arm off.

Regarding chancing more money for relocation etc etc I cannot imagine you would get a cent more, as you know money is extremely tight in research, and I am sure that the way things are going most likely if the project is a good one at least 20 people will also apply for the PhD so the more demands you make the less chance you actually have of being accepted, also as most candidates would come directly from college 16,000 seems like alot more to them than it would to you.

How can they offer a pitiful wage? Well first thing its not a wage, its funding, technically your a student improvimng your education and getting paid for the privelige, as i said 16000 funding per year is very good and above the norm.

My advice to you is go for it and if you get offered it take it, you can worry about money when it runs out, you'll soon get used to the life of a student again.

Good Luck.

dlofnep

Yeah, just on top of what Jokesetal said - There's the possibility of you getting a studentship, where you will have a few part-time hours lecturing a week (€63 an hour AFAIK) which would help you greatly on top of your research funding.

enda1

I'm liking the sound of this studentship!

So would you be reasonably be able to do about 10 hours per week of this? Or would the background work be another 10 hours and so too much work in total?

cphowlin

Hi,

I was funded by IRCSET for my PhD and we got paid 1270euro a month obviously tax free. This was a few years ago and has gone up recently I believe.

IRCSET also covered our fees of approx 3500euro per year and gave us expenses of about 3000euro per year so that you can go to conferences etc. In fact I think it is a requirement that you attend one international conference a year.

As for extra work to earn extra cash I think your limited to six hours a week in a related discipline. So you can’t hold down a 20 hour week in the local shop. I often did extra work for the college such as correcting/supervising exams which was more than the 6 hour limit a few times a year and never had any problems. This is pretty well paid too.

Also keep in mind that some departments require you teach tutorials which you will probably not be paid for. This could be up to six hours a week. At least thats the way it was for me in UL.

Apart form all that i reckon a PhD is well worth it... Def a most enjoyable 3 years... i wish i could go back!

jelly&icecream

I'm currently on IRCSET and its 16 grand a year tax free plus money for fees, conference travel and materials. TBH I consider myself quite lucky to be getting that. I know several others struggling on less. That being said I started my pHd straight from undergrad so going from no money to 16 grand was a significant improvement for me.

In my department (elec engineering) you can earn plenty of money from labs and tutorials if you want to do them. Pay varies between 23 to 33 quid an hour. So you could top your pay up to 18k easily enough.

On thing to consider is that IRCSET extensions are now very difficult to come by, so if you run over the 3 years you could be unfunded for the remainder. :eek:

You're going to take a significant hit anyway, its just up to you whether its worth it to you or not

convert

There's an awful lot of PhD students out there who are unfunded and would give their right (or left) arm to have even half the funding you're complaining about.

Whether or not it's worth quitting your job and living on less money to get your PhD and have a great qualification which may get you a better and higher paid job at the end of the day is only something that you can answer.

brianthebard

+1 to what convert said, I've a loan out atm and I'm waiting to hear if I will get funding from the IRCHSS for the next few years or not. To be able to walk into a programme which guarantees you funding is very rare. The fact that you're referring to it as a 'wage' at all shows you are looking at this the wrong way tbh, its not a wage and its not intended to be treated as a job, or an alternative to a job. Its a phd where you're lucky enough to receive a fellowship.

wyrn

If you have funding - fair play to you. Funding is a HUGE obstacle in postgraduate studies.

Beware that depending on the project, 3 years might not be enough. If you are starting a project from scratch it generally takes about 4 years (something like 1st yr- setting up, year 2-3 work, year 4 writing up).

Also note it depends on the college and department - you might be required by the department to be a Teaching Assistant (TA) and it's not paid regardless of your funding.

You might be also required to take classes and this is really handy.

Good luck - it's not an easy choice.
A PhD also means taking work home and having some very up days with alot of very down days!

avalon68

enda1 wrote: »

My problem is that in France for example I will earn about 1600 net with first class services at an excellent University. How is it that Ireland can expect to attract the best people when it wont pay competitively. Our wages in all other sectors are highly competitive, why not for PhDs?

That sounds quite good for france - are you sure thats PhD fundign and not postdoctoral funding? Most postdoc positions in the biological sciences over there would only pay about that or slightly more. I've always discounted positions over there due to the poor pay. Anyway, as others have said 16,000 is very good funding if you can get it. IRCSET funding is highly competitive though and many people have found that they were not ableto get an extension this year.

convert

convert wrote: »

There's an awful lot of PhD students out there who are unfunded and would give their right (or left) arm to have even half the funding you're complaining about.

Whether or not it's worth quitting your job and living on less money to get your PhD and have a great qualification which may get you a better and higher paid job at the end of the day is only something that you can answer.

Indeed. I battled for two years to receive 900 quid a month in funding, and I'm delighted. The rest of my colleagues are funding themselves. You can't compare postgrad research to a job.

racheltbn

Ive sent my app in for ircset this year and i love my topic so much id do it without a "wage" whats another 3 years broke in the grand scheme of things???

LordOctane2009

brianthebard wrote: »

+1 to what convert said, I've a loan out atm and I'm waiting to hear if I will get funding from the IRCHSS for the next few years or not. To be able to walk into a programme which guarantees you funding is very rare. The fact that you're referring to it as a 'wage' at all shows you are looking at this the wrong way tbh, its not a wage and its not intended to be treated as a job, or an alternative to a job. Its a phd where you're lucky enough to receive a fellowship.

Completely agree with Brian and Convert - I'm in the arts and I have been struggling for funding for the last 3 years. I would give every limb I have for funding and use some of the money from a scholarship to buy a speech program and headset :pac: PhDs mean hardship for at least 3 years - I think it's sombody's idea of motivation.