Just saw that the UK is increasing PhD stipends to the equivalent of ~AUD$42 k, while the base RTP still sits at ~AUD$34k.
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Just saw that the UK is increasing PhD stipends to the equivalent of ~AUD$42 k, while the base RTP still sits at ~AUD$34k. Aussie PhD students are still being taken advantage of. We are going to end up with a system where only rich kids get to do a PhD.
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Just saw that the UK is increasing PhD stipends to the equivalent of ~AUD$42 k, while the base RTP still sits at ~AUD$34k. Aussie PhD students are still being taken advantage of. We are going to end up with a system where only rich kids get to do a PhD.
@michcampbell That is barely more than when I started my PHD 15 years ago!
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@michcampbell That is barely more than when I started my PHD 15 years ago!
@DrEvanGowan right!? It's shockingly bad.
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Just saw that the UK is increasing PhD stipends to the equivalent of ~AUD$42 k, while the base RTP still sits at ~AUD$34k. Aussie PhD students are still being taken advantage of. We are going to end up with a system where only rich kids get to do a PhD.
I'm not sure if it's the same in Australia, but the PhD stipend is also non taxable in the UK. If that's the only income you get, it's roughly equivalent to a taxable salary of around £25K. But the real win is that it doesn't count against your personal allowance, so the next £12,570 that you earn is also untaxed. This means you can (via internships, consulting, and so on) earn up to £34,375 before you start paying tax. That's about the same take-home pay as someone earning £43K.
When I started my PhD, I think it was £10K, but went up to £12.5K by the time I finished. It looks as if it's roughly kept pace with inflation since then. Consulting on the side made it a better deal than some entry-level jobs.
But even that doesn't really compete with industry salaries. A computer science PhD student's internship salary is typically (pro-rated) £45K/year (maybe a bit more, I'm a couple of years out of date). Making an internship-level salary full time would pay you more than you get from the stipend and a 3-month internship. And that makes it very hard to get people to come back and do a PhD after a couple of years in industry. That's a real shame because people often do a lot better if they've had some practical experience of which open research problems really matter before they focus on one for a few years.
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I'm not sure if it's the same in Australia, but the PhD stipend is also non taxable in the UK. If that's the only income you get, it's roughly equivalent to a taxable salary of around £25K. But the real win is that it doesn't count against your personal allowance, so the next £12,570 that you earn is also untaxed. This means you can (via internships, consulting, and so on) earn up to £34,375 before you start paying tax. That's about the same take-home pay as someone earning £43K.
When I started my PhD, I think it was £10K, but went up to £12.5K by the time I finished. It looks as if it's roughly kept pace with inflation since then. Consulting on the side made it a better deal than some entry-level jobs.
But even that doesn't really compete with industry salaries. A computer science PhD student's internship salary is typically (pro-rated) £45K/year (maybe a bit more, I'm a couple of years out of date). Making an internship-level salary full time would pay you more than you get from the stipend and a 3-month internship. And that makes it very hard to get people to come back and do a PhD after a couple of years in industry. That's a real shame because people often do a lot better if they've had some practical experience of which open research problems really matter before they focus on one for a few years.
@david_chisnall yes, it is also tax-free in Australia. However, 34k post-tax is equivalent to just $38k pre-tax, while median graduate salary in 2024 was $75k for Bachelor degree holders. A big difference! Another financial penalty is no pension (superannuation) contributions during PhD.
Australian postgraduate students receiving a stipend also have limits on how much they can work. When I was a PhD student it was 7 hrs/week. Many (most?) PhD students are working as well as studying.
I did mine at a sweet spot where the stipend slightly outpaced the poverty line and I had a nice top-up from a scholarship (I think I was on ~42 k and felt like a queen). Cost of living has gone through the roof since then, though.
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@david_chisnall yes, it is also tax-free in Australia. However, 34k post-tax is equivalent to just $38k pre-tax, while median graduate salary in 2024 was $75k for Bachelor degree holders. A big difference! Another financial penalty is no pension (superannuation) contributions during PhD.
Australian postgraduate students receiving a stipend also have limits on how much they can work. When I was a PhD student it was 7 hrs/week. Many (most?) PhD students are working as well as studying.
I did mine at a sweet spot where the stipend slightly outpaced the poverty line and I had a nice top-up from a scholarship (I think I was on ~42 k and felt like a queen). Cost of living has gone through the roof since then, though.
Cost of living has gone through the roof since then, though.
I presume this is also true in Australia, but this is also incredibly local dependent. When I was doing my PhD (in Swansea), my rent (in a shared house) was £165/month. My share of bills brought that to a bit over £200/month. Add on food and I was spending well under £400/month. The £1000/month stipend left a lot left over. At the same time, folks in more expensive cities were easily spending £400+ just on rent and bills.
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