Sunday, January 27, 2013

Thinking of doing a PhD?

Well, then consider doing it in Norway.

I've quietly promoted this line a few times before at The Corral. Still, and alongside the regular factors for choosing a postgrad programme, here are some perhaps-not-so-obvious points for consideration.

1) Salary. In Norway, a PhD is viewed as a job and you are paid accordingly. The salary is designed to be competitive with the nearest outside option; in this case, the expected earnings of a recent Master's graduate. The starting salary for PhD scholars is currently -- i.e. early 2013 -- a very healthy 416,300 NOK (+/- 75,000 USD) per annum. This is easily the most generous figure that I have seen for a doctoral programme anywhere around the world.

2) Funding. Yes, just a short step away from the previous point, but important to emphasise the distinction nonetheless. In addition to a full I.T. budget (incl. new laptop, secondary monitor, etc.), my classmates and I receive an "annum" of around 5,000 NOK (900 USD) p.a. to spend on books, iPads, software, organisational memberships, accessories... Pretty much whatever we want as long as it has some potential benefit to our research. And then we also have an annual allotment for attending conferences and workshops of around 30,000 NOK (5,500 USD). Again, this is all on top of the regular salary.

3) Data. Especially for those interested in doing empirical work. You will be hard pressed to find a country that has better data on just about any subject you can imagine. (This is true for the Scandinavian countries in general, which is why you so often see studies that draw their findings from this region.) A number of my colleagues are doing work that would be almost impossible to do anywhere else, simply because they would struggle to find comparable data.

4) Exchange. I can't speak for every school (or area of study), but we are strongly encouraged to spend at least a semester, preferably two, abroad. The guys ahead of me have typically gone to top departments in the U.S. (or in Europe). Alongside the obvious benefits brought on by collaborating with people from different universities, these research stays actually have a financial attraction as well. You are taxed less and also receive an extra monthly stipend to help meet costs while overseas. (An irony, of course, since your living costs will very likely be lower!)

5) Language. The standard of spoken and written English is more-or-less excellent across Scandinavia. Moreover, English is the default "tribal language" in the Norwegian academic setting. That's not to say that you won't benefit from learning the local language, but it does mean that you can slot into the system immediately and without any hassles.

6) Lifestyle. There's no point in denying it: Doing a PhD is hard. The workload in first year or two is particularly pretty brutal and your social life will be but a shadow of its former glory until you are done with the core curriculum. That said, there are degrees and cultures of stress, and the Norwegian attitude to creating a healthy work-life balance is hard to match. You've probably seen those international rankings of lifestyle measures and happiness, which invariably place Norway and the other Scandinavian countries at the top. Of course, not everything is simply "better" here and there are a number of things that undeniably frustrate me as a foreigner. The weather can also be pretty harsh and miserable at times; especially for someone whose youth was spent frequenting the many fine beaches of Cape Town. However, even this brings new lifestyle opportunities that I, personally, would not otherwise have had the chance to experience: I've soaked up the midnight sun, hiked in incredible landscapes, bathed in the fjords, chased the Northern Lights in husky sleds... You get the picture. (And the melodrama.)

And on that note, I must be off. I have a skiing date with the athletic Miss LB. Time to hit the slopes!

17 comments:

  1. Could I put in a request for a post describing the major data sources available and perhaps how someone not in country might access them?

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    1. I'll see what I can do... There's a lot of stuff that is publicly available (e.g. Statistics Norway or Nordpool). However, some of the richest and most interesting datasets are proprietary information. The trick here is simply to contact one of the local researchers that have access to these data and take it from there. (There's a lot happening in your area of interest, i.e. labour... So let me know if you want something more specific and I'll be happy to put you in touch with some people.)

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  2. Thanks for this, giving it some serious consideration now. Have you picked up Norwegian? If so, how long did it take?

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    1. Good stuff.

      My Norwegian is still pretty average, to be frank. It was getting up to conversational level during my MSc, but regressed when I went on exchange and then during the first year of the PhD when all my focus was on the comps. It's undeniably useful to speak the language of any (foreign) country that you find yourself in, but I certainly wouldn't call it *necessary* here. To repeat what I said in my post, the general standard of English in the Nordics is excellent.

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  3. Where do you study, may I know? Also, could you please suggest some top economics PhD programs in Norway?

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    1. Sticking with the comments policy (below), I'll be very happy to answer as soon as you drop the "Anonymous" label and adopt a pseudonym or other handle :)

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    2. I'm not that anon guy but I want to know the same thing! What school do you go to? How many schools are there with econ phd programs in Norway? Do econ phd programs work the same in Norway as in the US? At first glance here, it looks like you have to get a masters separately before you enter the phd program?

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    3. OK, yeah so I looked it up. You need a masters before you can get into the Norwegian phd programs. How much do they charge you for your masters there? ~50k?

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    4. Hello! so nice to come across your blog. I am a master's student in Nanotechnology and my master's dissertation is in process. It is expected to be completed by the May-July of 2015.
      I am crrrrrraaaaaazy about Norway!!!!!! I really want to pursue my Phd in Norway under a Norwegian University. Now, my issue is that, I would have to look about for funding agencies before I am accepted as a Phd scholar in Norwegian universities. Can you please help me know the kinds of funding opportunities and processes for International (Asian) students in Technology and Engineering sector?

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  4. Hi Spencer, I'm at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH). One of my recent posts has a link to my Google sites webpage, so feel to look that up if you want more detail.

    To answer your question, yes, you do need a Master degree before enrollment in a PhD in Norway as far as I am aware. However, the Master programmes in Norway themselves are completely tuition free! That is, you only need to provide evidence that you are able to meet expected living expenses before being granted a residency/study visa. In fact, I think that this "proof of funds" rule doesn't even apply to EEA citizens... Though I'm not sure what the rules are regarding students coming from the US. Either way, it's still a really good deal compared to study costs in most foreign countries, so I'd take a look at the options if I were you.

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  5. Hi Grant,

    I am Shital and I have done my masters in business studies with Merit from the UK. I want to do PhD now and I am considering NHH. What are the chances of getting full funding over there as a non EU? I will contact the admissions but thought will take some advice from you. Thank you very much.

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    1. Hi Shital.

      Citizenship (EU, non-EU, etc.) makes no difference to your chance of funding. The stipend is made available to everyone who is accepted into the programme.

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  6. Hi Grant,

    You make doing a PhD in Norway sound like some kind of amazing education fever dream. Could you please outline the negative aspects of your time in Norway? I need my expectations dampened.

    Thanks!

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  7. Hi Grant,

    I am accepted as a PhD fellow at NTNU, Trondheim :) I can not wait to start my work in December. Two questions 1) As a PhD student do you receive 13th salary or some bonus before summer? 2) I did not found in my contract that amount (funding) of money for technical staff which you described, maybe is not for all PhD students?

    Thanks,
    Ljubisa

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    1. Hi Ljubisa,

      Sorry for the late reply. I haven't been monitoring this blog for a while. More importantly, congratulations on the PhD fellowship. NTNU is an excellent institution.

      1) Yes, something like that. Your July salary slip is effectively a holiday bonus that is larger than your normal salary.A slight complication is that July salary slip is not conventional wage earnings, but rather holiday money earned from the year before. This only really matters for your first year (since you won't have earned any holiday money from the previous year), but you should speak to your finance dept. about all this.

      2) There may be funding exceptions on a case-by-case basis, but this should be clearly stated in the application process.

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    2. Hi Grant,

      Thanks, I am seeing now that NTNU is a great institution with amazing research facilities.
      Ok, thanks for the information, anyway the salary is pretty high so there is no worries :)

      Best regards,
      Ljubisa

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  8. Hello
    so nice to come across your blog. I want to know, do I need a potential PhD supervisor before submitting my application for admission? What's the process of admission and likely deadlines. Am considering university of Oslo, stavanger and Bergen.
    Isaac

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