Hello everyone,

I just had a few questions regarding the Phd studentship. I am currently funded by the ESPRC and in my first year recieved a salary of £15995. However this year I seem to earn slightly more at around £16416. I was wondering what this was due to, Is it inflation as I wasn't aware that studentships change in line with inflation. Secondly as the studentshipis tax free, does that mean we still pay for national insurance? I want to know this as I am trying to work out the equivalent of my studentship to a taxable salary. I have seen a few websites giving me a value of around £20,400 but I wasn't sure of the value as I am not sure if I pay national insurance or not.

Thanks!

Yes, your studentship does rise slightly every year. You should be able to see what it's going to be for the next year a few months before the increase kicks in, as it should be in the student handbook on the ESPRC website (I was funded by the BBSRC and they always did it this way). You don't pay national insurance or tax. To get a rough figure of what your 'real' salary would be, you divide by 3 then multiply by 4, so if you take home £16416, this is roughly equivalent to a salary of £21888.

Is there any age restriction for PhD position in Germany and for what are the basic things we give more importance like CV, etc., while applying for PhD position in European countries
Thanks in advance