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PhD in the UK is a different level of poverty compared with PhDs in any other “Western” country. Can you imagine graduating at the top of your class and you l

PhD in the UK is a different level of poverty compared with PhDs in any other “Western” country. Can you imagine graduating at the top of your class and you living in London or near London on less than 20k pounds a year? You can double or triple that income in other phd programs. The only advice if one really wants to do a PhD is to sample broadly across different countries and PhD programs and choose one that unlocks future options and also pays living wages.

_Wintermute 4y ago
> PhD in the UK is a different level of poverty compared with PhDs in any other “Western” country. I disagree. I did my PhD in the UK, I did a post-doc in France and the PhD students there seem to have it just as bad, if not worse. From what I've heard from the US it's worse as well, you're expected to carry out teaching duties for pay, and your PI is more likely to string you along for 5+ years and stop you graduating since you're useful and cheap labour.
- feet 4y ago
  AFAIK I've only heard of extra duties in the humanities rather than the sciences.
- throwawayarnty 4y ago
  You’re right that France is also bad (also spain) but it’s better to sample around phd salaries in different countries. Roughly in euros per month: Netherlands: 3000 Sweden: 3000 Switzerland: 4000 France: 1500 Italy: 1000-1500 Spain: 1000-1500 Germany: 2000-3000 USA: 2000-3000 Uk: 1300-1600 Note in many countries you get benefits like insurance, pension, unemployment insurance (basically free money after your PhD). In summary, there are different tiers, and UK is at the bottom tier comparable to France, Spain, and Italy.
- throwaway4220 4y ago
  I lived in CA for two years starting a phd. Got 2k/mo, but fortunately on campus housing was only 500/mo. I actually saved 10k over those two years. Super lucky to have already owned a car and be on my parents car insurance tho. Would not recommend again.

_Wintermute 4y ago

> PhD in the UK is a different level of poverty compared with PhDs in any other “Western” country. I disagree. I did my PhD in the UK, I did a post-doc in France and the PhD students there seem to have it just as bad, if not worse. From what I've heard from the US it's worse as well, you're expected to carry out teaching duties for pay, and your PI is more likely to string you along for 5+ years and stop you graduating since you're useful and cheap labour.

feet 4y ago
AFAIK I've only heard of extra duties in the humanities rather than the sciences.
throwawayarnty 4y ago
You’re right that France is also bad (also spain) but it’s better to sample around phd salaries in different countries. Roughly in euros per month: Netherlands: 3000 Sweden: 3000 Switzerland: 4000 France: 1500 Italy: 1000-1500 Spain: 1000-1500 Germany: 2000-3000 USA: 2000-3000 Uk: 1300-1600 Note in many countries you get benefits like insurance, pension, unemployment insurance (basically free money after your PhD). In summary, there are different tiers, and UK is at the bottom tier comparable to France, Spain, and Italy.
throwaway4220 4y ago
I lived in CA for two years starting a phd. Got 2k/mo, but fortunately on campus housing was only 500/mo. I actually saved 10k over those two years. Super lucky to have already owned a car and be on my parents car insurance tho. Would not recommend again.