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are most phd's paid for

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This is not true.

Is it not? I know my university holds a number of high profile patents, which can only be things invented/discovered by its students and employees.

Enlighten me - what happens when your research creates a new drug or piece of lab equipment then?

Reply 41

aaabbc

Original post by redferry

I'm doing my PhD in London and I get 15863 - which is the standard research council rate for a PhD in London and what most people will be on.

What sector do you work in?

Yeah it depends where your funding comes from. We are in natural sciences. Some biotechnology companies offer studentship. Some students have scholarship from institutions in Europe.

Reply 42

aaabbc

Original post by nexttime

In every work place I have worked/studied, we had to sign a disclaimer whereby we gave the ownership of all the discoveries to the that institute/university

Reply 43

nexttime

Original post by aaabbc

In every work place I have worked/studied, we had to sign a disclaimer whereby we gave the ownership of all the discoveries to the that institute/university

Yes that's exactly what I said? All universities will make you sign this. You work for them, not the other way around as for undergrad.

Reply 44

poohat

Original post by nexttime

It depends on the particulars of the project. If you are being funded to look for one particular thing then you may be asked to sign a contract waiving patent rights . But in general, I dont think that either PhD students or staff sign contracts saying that anything they discover is the property of the university. Its even common in fields like computer science and engineering for students/staff to take their discoveries and spin-off them off as independent companies.

edit: its possible I'm wrong about this though, I'm now curious what the typical contract actually says.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 45

redferry

Original post by aaabbc

Yeah it depends where your funding comes from. We are in natural sciences. Some biotechnology companies offer studentship. Some students have scholarship from institutions in Europe.

Yeah I'm in natural sciences and have NERC funding

Reply 46

Floob

Original post by poohat

Generally all employees of the university including PhD students get asked to sign over any IP resulting from their work at the university.

Generally in a spin off situation the university will license your intellectual property back to you. They will own part of the business and often will expect royalties on sales in exchange for letting you use your IP and often giving other assistance through the commecialisation group (help with patent costs etc.) and initial equipment/lab space etc. The particulars of each spin off will be different as Universities have different priorities and establishing each spin off is a series of negotiations

Reply 47

fluffyowl

Original post by Guy Secretan

so actually you are doing pretty well do you find that you end up with a surplus of money. Also do you have to document your expenses or can you just spend it on whatever you like?

My expenses pot of money is controlled by my supervisor, so he has to sign off on anything I claim. I can't just decide to claim for random stuff that isn't related to my work! When I am at conferences, I can claim back for my food up to a certain amount per meal - this is usually because the food is quite expensive in conference venues and it isn't always possible to get to somewhere cheaper during the lunch break etc.

I actually have no idea how much money is left in my expenses pot - I have just started my 4th year, so I imagine there isn't much left. I have had 2 conferences funded by NERC, and one funded jointly by my university grad school and the Royal Meteorological Society. 2 others were funded by my expenses pot.

As for my stipend, I don't live too badly! I am lucky that I share a house with my boyfriend who earns around 30k, and my dad is my landlord so we only pay half rent. My biggest expenses are my car travel to and from my lab. It costs me about £50 a week in petrol because I drive 60 miles a day.

Reply 48

Guy Secretan

Original post by fluffyowl

What so you get money on top of your stipend for expenses. I meant that with your stipend you can spend it on whatever you like?

Reply 49

fluffyowl

Original post by Guy Secretan

What so you get money on top of your stipend for expenses. I meant that with your stipend you can spend it on whatever you like?

Oh yeh, your stipend is your money to live off, like a salary/student grant. On top of the stipend that I physically get given, I have money for expenses which I have to claim back off the uni. So if I take a trip on the train to a PhD related meeting or seminar or something, I can claim that back from my expenses account rather than paying for it myself.

Reply 50

Nathanielle

Original post by poohat

Well, it is a tricky question and that it why you usually sign a contract or it is simply standing in the university regulations. A University may get a certain percentage, etc. ... that you simply own, what you have discovered, while this discovery was only possible due to you being at university, is rather uncommon. (On the other hand a university does not want to sit on patents, so the regulations are usually aimed at being a win-win for both. And as any employer a university can give you the patent ...) In addition having a university in the back with it's own lawyers is an advantage compared to applying for a patent all by yourself.

Reply 51

catsis

Original post by Schrödingers Cat

As a general rule most science PhD's are paid and most art PhD's aren't.

The amount of funding you get depends on
A) The field of study
And
B) How popular the specific topic you study is

In my field for example a PhD in cancer research is going to pay more than a PhD in laser research

Absolutely agree with this. I just spend the last 2 weeks applying for PhD programmes and I was a bit upset that I wasn't interested in cancer instead of neuroscience. Most cancer programmes, as well as the stipend, were offering additional stuff such as a macbook and travel expenses paid for a year