PhD stipend affordability calculator
Sanity-check agri and life-science doctoral packages against a simple student budget. The country table ranks hosts by the median monthly grant on MarinePhD institute profiles — open vacancy ads stay out of the ranking.
| Country | Median stipend | Country factor | Living cost | Score | Band |
|---|
Affordability calculator — FAQ
What does the MarinePhD living-cost checker measure?
It maps typical agri and life-science institute funding on marinephd.com against a simplified student budget. Country rows use the median monthly grant stored on published institute profiles (open PhD vacancy ads are excluded from the ranking).
How do you turn a stipend into an affordability band?
We estimate net pay with a country tax profile when one exists, then divide by living cost ≈ €1,200 × the country’s price-level factor. The ratio becomes a band from Tight to Generous. Example: Germany — factor ~1.0 → living ~€1,200; median institute grant €2,200 (net ≈ €2,024) → score ~1.7 → Relaxed. Norway’s higher factor is often offset by a higher median package.
How are taxes modelled for doctoral pay?
One effective rate per country from our tax table (for example 0% on many Baltic-style stipends; ~20% for employed PhD tracks in the Netherlands). Missing profile → gross treated as net. Always verify your contract type and residency rules.
What do the comfort bands mean on MarinePhD?
Tight (<0.9), Adequate (0.9–1.4), Comfortable (1.4–1.6), Relaxed (1.6–2.0), Generous (≥2.0). Higher bands mean more headroom after the model living cost — still indicative only.
What is the country factor in this tool?
A living-cost multiplier built from Eurostat/OECD price levels (EU27 = 100). Higher factor → higher modelled costs. City pages multiply again by a city factor when we have one.
Where do the stipend numbers come from?
From the grant field on MarinePhD institute pages (catalog estimates used for filters when a programme-wide figure is not public). Countries with no positive institute grants drop out of the hub table until data exists.
Where do living-cost indices come from?
Eurostat prc_ppp_ind and OECD PPP series synced into the MarinePhD API. Values are simplified student estimates — not official household budgets or immigration evidence.
Stipend vs employed PhD salary — which figure should I enter?
Use the monthly gross you expect on the contract (scholarship stipend or doctoral employment). Employment packages often include holiday pay or bonuses that our simple tax profile does not unpack — check the vacancy PDF.
Country factor comes from Eurostat/OECD price levels only. Band uses both factor and the median stipend on this site (estimated net pay after tax). Indicative only — not tax or financial advice.
How MarinePhD's affordability view works
The PhD affordability hub compares an indicative monthly grant from published institute scholarship cards with a simplified student living-cost estimate by country (and city where data exists). It is a planning aid for agriculture and life-science doctoral paths — not an offer, visa rule, or payroll figure.
What the country table shows
- Median disclosed monthly grant among institute programmes we publish for that country (when grant data exists).
- A comfort band that relates that median to the living-cost estimate used on MarinePhD.
- Links into country scholarship landings and related vacancy catalogs.
What it does not replace
Always re-check stipend or salary on the host’s official page, and confirm rent, insurance, and tax rules for your situation. Employed PhD contracts and scholarship bands are different models — compare like with like. For live calls with deadlines, use Open PhD Positions; for programme hubs, use PhD Scholarships.