• Question: how much do you make per month

    Asked by anon-201750 to Sophia, Sarah, Meirin, George, Emily, Andy on 6 Mar 2019. This question was also asked by anon-202058, anon-201642, anon-201661, anon-201588.
    • Photo: Sarah O'Sullivan

      Sarah O'Sullivan answered on 6 Mar 2019:

      I’m on a grant provided by my research council at just the standard rate. I get about £14,500 a year but I get it paid in 3 month chunks, not monthly

    • Photo: Sophia Pells

      Sophia Pells answered on 6 Mar 2019:

      I’m also on a grant from a research council for the same amount but I am lucky because my PhD is sponsored by the National Physical Laboratory so I get some extra money from them too.

    • Photo: George Fulton

      George Fulton answered on 6 Mar 2019:

      A graduate engineer or scientist in a research based role could expect a starting salary of £25,000 to £35,000 a year. So around £2000 a month (after tax) would be reasonable.

    • Photo: Emily Lewis

      Emily Lewis answered on 6 Mar 2019:

      aha a slightly cheeky question, I’m a graduate and George’s answer is bang on

    • Photo: Andy Buckley

      Andy Buckley answered on 7 Mar 2019:

      I don’t really count it on a month by month basis, as it rapidly disappears into automatic bill payments and paying for our kids’ childcare. My partner and I both pay our salaries into a joint bank account, so it’s also impossible to know “whose is whose”… that’s on purpose!

      Anyway, I’m a senior lecturer which is the grade below professor, and I earn a bit over £50,000 a year. Profs are about £10,000 more. This is pretty darn good, I think, for a job which I *want* to do, and is mostly defined by researching whatever I think is most interesting! I started in 2005 on about £25k.

      (People in the UK are far too cagey about saying what they earn. I think it’s healthy to be honest about it. In Norway, everyone’s income and taxes are open for anyone else to look at online… but they get told who’s looking! That’s a pretty nice, self-limiting system!)

      One thing to note about the graduate student grants is that they are tax free, so they’re “worth” a bit more than the headline number. I pay tax on mine, which is how it should be.

    • Photo: Meirin Oan Evans

      Meirin Oan Evans answered on 8 Mar 2019:

      I earn the same amount as Sarah. For my first job since university, this still feels like a lot!

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