Standard of living for PhD students in Ireland

riffmongous

I was reading a thread elsewhere about renting out a box room to students and someone suggested it would be suitable for a PhD student. Im doing my PhD in central Europe and this suggestion was a bit of a shock to me as here everyone can afford their own apartment, not even sharing, quite comfortably. Is the standard of living really so low in Ireland?

testicles

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RoebuckWilson

I think it's both costs and income... For the majority of PhD students I know. Most are on about €800 a month with a few on €1200 max.

I can't afford to live in the city of my university. I rent a room two hours from the university and work from home 3/4 days a week. Quite a few of my cohort are house sharing at €500 a month with added part time work to manage other costs.

Been at some conferences this year and it was a real eye opener. PhD students in other countries are much better positioned. That said we make the most of it. It'll be worth it surely.

riffmongous

testicles wrote: »

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Well if a significant portion of your wage is going just to rent a room in a share I think it's fair to say you'll have a lower standard of living than someone with their own place.

riffmongous

RoebuckWilson wrote: »

I think it's both costs and income... For the majority of PhD students I know. Most are on about €800 a month with a few on €1200 max.

I can't afford to live in the city of my university. I rent a room two hours from the university and work from home 3/4 days a week. Quite a few of my cohort are house sharing at €500 a month with added part time work to manage other costs.

Been at some conferences this year and it was a real eye opener. PhD students in other countries are much better positioned. That said we make the most of it. It'll be worth it surely.

That's a small amount of money, especially for a country as expensive as Ireland.

Yes it will be worth it in the end alright, it's just a bit mad imo that students in Ireland have to struggle for the 3 or 4 years compared to students from the central europe region, for essentially doing the same work. Of course there will always be different standards across countries but I expected better from
Ireland

I think it depends on what field you do your PhD in; I'm in science and the majority of PhD students in my dept would be on ~1300 per month on average, with opportunities to earn a bit more through teaching etc. I don't think that's an unlivable salary for a PhD student but it definitely doesn't go as far as it used to since rent exploded.

I think the decision of where to do your PhD should firstly be made on where is the best university or department to study your chosen field/specialty/interest and secondly where you want to live/ quality of life. My university has an excellent reputation in my field so I was happy to stay in Ireland for my PhD.

robp

riffmongous wrote: »

I was reading a thread elsewhere about renting out a box room to students and someone suggested it would be suitable for a PhD student. Im doing my PhD in central Europe and this suggestion was a bit of a shock to me as here everyone can afford their own apartment, not even sharing, quite comfortably. Is the standard of living really so low in Ireland?

In Central Europe yes many can rent their own place but in the likes of expensive cities like Munich I am sure sharing is very common.

riffmongous

robp wrote: »

In Central Europe yes many can rent their own place but in the likes of expensive cities like Munich I am sure sharing is very common.

Munich is really the exception, and even there my friends with partners were able to live with just the two of them. Zürich, Berlin, Stuttgart, Hannover, Hamburg (not to mention all the smaller German cities) and especially Vienna it's the norm. In Vienna it's even seen as a bit weird for a PhD to share, but there you get about 1700 a month minimum, with a fairly low cost of living.

robp

riffmongous wrote: »

robp wrote: »

In Central Europe yes many can rent their own place but in the likes of expensive cities like Munich I am sure sharing is very common.

Munich is really the exception, and even there my friends with partners were able to live with just the two of them. Zürich, Berlin, Stuttgart, Hannover, Hamburg (not to mention all the smaller German cities) and especially Vienna it's the norm. In Vienna it's even seen as a bit weird for a PhD to share, but there you get about 1700 a month minimum, with a fairly low cost of living.

I would stay living alone is not very conducive to postgrad studies though and in a lot of central Europe there is not much one bedroom apartment stock.

riffmongous

robp wrote: »

I would stay living alone is not very conducive to postgrad studies though

I've never heard that before, why do you think so?

and in a lot of central Europe there is not much one bedroom apartment stock.

That's not been my experience, 30 - 60 m2 apartments are fairly common

robp

I think many graduate students become isolated, even if staying their home country. Id argue shared housing reduces that and reduces unexpected risks that can spring up when travelling.