Very low paid studentships. Worth it?

Hi,

I've found a great PhD studentship at UWS (University of West of Scotland) with a really good project I would love to do, however, the studentship is only £6000 per annum. This seems a ridiculously small amount, for a PhD as you'll be too busy to do part time work. I've got a maxed out £2500 overdraft as well as a nearly maxed £500 credit card, do you think it's possible to live on £6000 given my current financial status.

Also, it's not just specific to the project I like it seems to be all of them on offer at UWS.

Anyone doing a PhD there?

Cheers,

Does this studentship include fees?

If you could find reasonable accommodation, it might be worth it. Remember that living costs in Scotland are lower than elsewhere in the UK.

"UWS accommodation is £70 a week. Assuming a 36 week contract, you'd still have about £2,400 left for food and other costs."

Perhaps it's more common than I first thought, then.

But still, I think it's an awful strategy. UWS are saying they're offering 100 studentships at £6,000 stipends plus fees.

The way I see it, they're only going to get 2nd rate students takign up those positions, as top students will find it somewhat easier to acquire a full stipend elsewhere and will probably make their decision on where to go based almost solely on that factor.

For a place like UWS, which should be trying to build a reputation in its early stages as a university, they really should be offering full stipends to attract the best talent.

At the very least they should have 75 studentships available - 25 at the full rate for top students and 50 at the half rate.

In addition, here's a breakdown of the cost of living for a PhD student as recommended by the University of Glasgow:

"In addition to tuition fees, you must take into account board and lodgings, books, stationery and equipment, clothing, travel, holidays and entertainment.

We would recommend allowing £8,400 for a single student per year and a minimum for £12,000 for a married couple. For each child, add £2,000 per year.

Please note that the following is only a very rough breakdown of costs per month for a single student in self-catering accomodation:

Accomodation: £350
Food : £170
Clothes: £60
Bus, underground, train fares: £30
Laundry, stationery, stamps, toiletries: £30
Entertainment: £60

In addition, you should include the following amounts annually:

Books - £300, Travel - £200."

I think you would have a terrible, terrible time living on £6,000 a year for 3-4 years. As if getting through a PhD isn't difficult and stressful enough without adding in massive financial barriers.

And I'm talking about the sciences/engineering, not humanities or anything where the funding SHOULD be drying up.

What BS! Some of the science PhD projects I've come across are utterly obscure and ridiculous, though that's symptomatic across all fields. There is no way that science PhDs are more "useful" than non-science PhDs.

What BS! Some of the science PhD projects I've come across are utterly obscure and ridiculous, though that's symptomatic across all fields. There is no way that science PhDs are more "useful" than non-science PhDs.

Oh please I've had the unfortunate job of trawling through tonnes of scientific research as part of my health policy research and it's like reading stuff written by five year-olds sometimes with lots of really limited and basic understanding of ethical, social and policy issues. Get mad but it's us who advise the law and proposed scientific projects (all of which require ethical approval) which in turn governs your research so play nicely.

You have a limited understanding of the breadth and purpose of scientific research if you think it is all subject to the legal wranglings which concern you.

Why the **** do I need your approval to interpret a data feed from a satellite or solve some differential equations lol

It's called research ethics, duh. And even if you don't need formal research ethics approval you still have to prove the usefulness of your research.

In regards to your former point, pot kettle black You blatently have a huge misunderstanding of research that takes place in arts and humanities. The research I carry out affects the everyday person just as much as science does so get of your high horse.

Ps being locked up in a room solving equations is just as abstract and philosophical as well, philosophy itself (not that I'm dampening the use of philosophy as it has contributed significantly to our society).

“The theoretical broadening which comes from having many humanities subjects on the campus is offset by the general dopiness of the people who study these things...”Richard Feynman

Perhaps there is some usefulness in a small proportion of research in arts and humanities, but to say it stands on equal ground to the benefits science has given us is completely laughable, and when it comes to economic benefits there is no comparision. In fact there is a good argument that for nation like the UK, which has little natural resources and costly labour/manufacturing base, our continued economic prosperity is almost completely reliant on progress made in scientific and engineering fields. Much of the unecessary bureaucracy that can be introduced with your humanities research can only serve to build obstacles for progress where they need not exist.

PS The relationship between the physical realm and mathematics while is open to various philosphical interpretation, has made countless predictions about the world before they were observed experimentally.

Hi,

I've found a great PhD studentship at UWS (University of West of Scotland) with a really good project I would love to do, however, the studentship is only £6000 per annum. This seems a ridiculously small amount, for a PhD as you'll be too busy to do part time work. I've got a maxed out £2500 overdraft as well as a nearly maxed £500 credit card, do you think it's possible to live on £6000 given my current financial status.

Also, it's not just specific to the project I like it seems to be all of them on offer at UWS.

Anyone doing a PhD there?

Cheers,

Just a silly question, but are you certain that it isn't a part-time PhD? That would be a normal stipend for somewhere that's expecting you to also have a part-time job.