What is a reasonable PhD salary in Bremen?

Hi,

Im starting a PhD by the end of this year in Bremen and I was wondering what a reasonable salary is. My supervisor told me I get the normal salary for PhD students in Germany, but I have no idea how much this will be and how much tax you pay. So does anybody know how much a PhD student will get netto?

Cheers,

David

Would you be a "student", or would you have a work contract as a "wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter"?

Mmm, thats a good question. I think I will be a student at the University of Bremen. Is there a large difference between the two?

Students don't get a salary - why should they? Unless you are part of a so-called Graduiertenkolleg, then it depends on the terms of that particular Graduiertenkolleg, AFAIK.

Ok, no I do get paid. He said it would be somewhere around E 1800.- a month (without taxes paid form it). Is that ok? And how much will that be netto?

"OK" compared to what? Anyway, presumably the treatment concerning tax and social security depends on the type of contract, so it's a little hard to say what the netto would be. Probably best if you ask your supervisor...

DAvid83: unless you are getting paid from private funds/industrial funds within a certain science project, you will most certainly be paid as public employee and you will receive payment according to BAT (BUndesangestelltentarif). Just ask what kind of BAT-status you will have and then it is rather easy to determine your income which is based on age, married or not, children etc.

Cheerio

Not necessarily. If he is part of a Graduiertenkolleg, then he receives a "Stipendium", which is technically not the same as a work contract, AFAIK. Not sure what the taxation and social security implications of receiving a stipend are.

BAT IIA maybe

BAT is no longer used. PhD students get paid according to EG 13/2 (half a scientist). Many factors including where you live, marital status, kids, etc will go into determining just how much gross you will get. Mostly it runs around 25k per year before taxes.

BAT IIA does not exist anymore.

It is called TVL now... The main difference is that you are not paid depending on the age anymore...

Ask you adviser if you get a full TVL position if yes that should be approx 3000 Bruto I think. So I should be around 1800, for Munich at least I do not know for Bremen.

About Graduiertenkolleg, I don't know much but it is rare to get that I think and you get less but no industry involved

Good luck

Not true in the sciences. If the graduate school you apply to doesn't fully fund your stay, then you don't go to that school.

I was PhD student in Munich, and I was paid through the Max Planck society on a tax-free Stipendium. I think my pay was somewhere on the order of €1100 or €1200 per month. I survived alright as a student, and I had a rather expensive apartment and lots of debt to pay on back home. If you'll be getting €1800 per month tax-free, then you should do just fine, especially if you don't have the debt to worry about that I did.

Maybe things have change but when I was a research student for Computer Science at Manchester University (UK) in the early 70s I got no pay - had to pay them (except I didn't since my father was a lecturer at the university...). All I got was a few quid from demonstrating in the undergraduate lab. OK - I exited after MSc. but I do not know of any of my colleagues who completed getting formally paid.

I was referring to the natural sciences.

As people already wrote he old BAT IIA system is gone. If you are a student, I have no idea. If you are a post-doc, do not let them try and give you a half, three quarter or fourth salary. Only accept a full salary. That being said, also try and get the 13 payments per year and not 12. They stopped giving the Weihnachstgeld a few years ago, which means you will be receiving only 12/13ths of what people received before. If you have a choice do not accept a stipend. I came here on the Alexander von Humboldt Stipendium five years ago and was told that it is an advantgae because it is tax free. Do not believe them. Accept a state position before a stipend if you can. The stipend is tax exempt, but you might earn only 100 euro more net per month. However, if you want to stay in Germany it may make it a lot harder to claim a visa. In addition, the University would normally pay for your pension which has a lot more worth than the 100 euro net per month difference. Lastly, make certain you use the hidden 25-34 euro per month that you can place in a bausparkonto or in a rentekonto that otherwise will not be given to you.

Typically the average netto salary per month is 2000-2500 euro, being paid double salary in December.

Not for a PhD salary. My PhD salary was about equivalent to what the German students took home with their usual taxable salary.

I would be 99% certain that neither the chemistry PhD students that my father supervised nor the HEP PhD students I worked with were being paid - they would get paid if they got a post-doc appointment. I'm referring to UK & maybe things are different in other countries...

I don't know how it works for UK citizens, but the UK is notorious for crappy or non-existent funding for international PhD students. That's not the case in the US and mainland Europe, though (same goes for Oz).

Strange it seems I qualified that already.

Picky, picky, picky.