Payment of doctoral students by the Max-Planck society¶

• Understand the differences between contracts and stipends before you accept. If you prefer the other form of payment, ask if you can have it.
• You can, before accepting the letter, ask for a higher salary. Directors can give up to 25% extra (recruitment bonus, astrophysics is FK 311). You will spend 40%-75% of your salary on rent in Munich and surrounding.
• You can also ask if you can switch. Especially if are being asked to do institute duties, or expect a child. However, the funding your group has for a project may be bound to one type of payment.
• It is illegal to give out contracts based on nationality.
• The payment should be given out for the total 3 years (not 2 years with the option of extension), according to the best practices guide recommended by the Scientific Council of the Max Planck Society in the Guidelines for Doctoral Training (for directors).

TVöD E13 50% Contracts:

• You are working for the institute (half-time) as an employee.

• Working hours and holidays are expected.

• Supervisor can order you to fulfill duties for the institute (tours, organise conferences, etc.)

• Payment:

  • 2013, 1st-year: ~1290€ monthly (net, averaged over the 3 years, including christmas bonus)
  • Payment into pension fund (~150€)
  • Payment to protect against unemployment (25€).
  • Taxes (~130€).
  • See this calculator for up-to-date numbers after 2013: Select E13, 50%.

• Your payment by public service (TVöD) increases every year, because the years of work experiences are counted. If employed later on, this will define your starting salary.

• You can receive support if unemployed after your PhD.

• If you apply for permanent residency in Germany later on, your PhD time counts as work experience.

• Your pension funds are relatively easily transferrable within EU, but also outside of EU.

• Cost to the institute: ~1860€/month

Stipend:

• You are working for your own research. You are a freelance researcher without duties. You don’t work, so you don’t have holidays. But you also don’t have working hours. But it is of course courtesy to arrange yourself with your team members.

• Supervisor can only advise you.

• Payment: 1365€/month net

  • health insurance subsidy (up to +100€) if your health insurance fulfills the requirements
  • if married (+154€)
  • child support (up to +256€)
  • allowance (Sachkostenpauschale, +103€, annually)

• You are not employed, so you do not pay any taxes.

• No payment into pension funds.

• No protection against unemployment.

• If you apply for permanent residency in Germany later on, your PhD time does not count as work experience.

• When employed later in public service (TVöD) your years do not count as work experience (you start at the lowest level, year 1).

• Cost to the institute: 1365€/month

More at http://www.phdnet.mpg.de/wiki/index.php/Funding

Enroll as a PhD student at LMU¶

Here is some information I compiled on registering as a student at LMU for foreign IMPRS students.

I know that several of you are in the process of admission. Here are a couple of words on that process.

Step 1: You need

[ ] confirmation from the dean:

If you haven’t received your letter from the dean (allowing admission to the university) yet, make some pressure. The worst is if you don’t get this done now and later in your PhD realize you have to do an additional course. This is the physics department telling the university that you may be a student (not enrolled yet).

[ ] confirmation of your insurance.

You need a confirmation written by a German institution – e.g. Techniker Krankenkasse does that (see IMPRS folder, page 12-13).

[ ] PhD letter from your supervisor (the thing you got after the application week)

[ ] residence permit and Anmeldebestätigung von der Meldebehörde (registration of the place you live)

[ ] confirmation that you do a German course

[ ] Enrolment form (you can get that in the international office)

Step 2:

Next, bring all of this to the international office. It’s a good idea to bring all your documents, confirmations, etc. already. Tell them that you would like to enrol for Physics Promotionsstudium (or Astronomy). In the end, they will tell you that you’ll receive a letter.

Step 3:

You receive a letter that specifically states a date when you have to turn up (again at the international office), and what to bring. It’s all in German, but it’s basically everything above (and all documents in general). If you don’t come in the specified time on the specified day, bad things will happen. The first page of the letter states the date, the second what to bring, the third page (at least for the Winter semester) asks you to do the Online registration. They ask you a lot of stuff, but you need to do it to be enrolled properly. On the last page it tells you where to get the insurance confirmation (mentioned above).

On that day, your enrolment is completed, and you get a lot of information material, your student ID, how to pay the fees, a initial IT password, a MVV card, study confirmations.

You should now:

[ ] pay the fees (42 EUR, you have a month or so)

[ ] log in with your account, set up email forwarding, etc.

[ ] buy a Semesterticket Ubahn card at the MVV ticket machines with your student ID.

[ ] get free student stuff (like the LMU backpack)

[ ] be smug about the fact that you’re a student now.

Most of this information, and more is available in the IMPRS folder (page 12-13, also contain opening hours!), and in the websites of the universities. For LMU: http://www.en.uni-muenchen.de/students/degree/admission_info/index.html

If you have questions, contact IMPRS office ... or me.

Traveling¶

I enjoy nature and love learning about different cultures & societies, so I travel quite a bit.

I lived in New Zealand for 2 years, and traveled Cape Reinga to Steward Island with backpack and tent; Been to Sidney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Narrabri; snorkelling at the Great Barrier reef (including Barracuda, giant turtle, clown fish).

I enjoyed youth hostel hopping in Manhattan and Brooklyn, relaxing in Miami, frequenting cafes in San Francisco.

Recently, I gained an insight into Asia, staying with friends and traveling across Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.

Aside from a few detours to St Petersburg and Moscow, Tunesia and Turkey, I appreciate the diversity Europe has to offer: From Iceland to Rome, Paris, London, Bergen, Berlin, ... and of course Vienna, a place I enjoyed to live at for 3 years.

Through cycling tours across Austria, Germany and Switzerland I experienced the landscape of the area where I happened to be born.

Here is my travel advice in a nutshell:

• For flights, buy noise-cancelling headphones.
• Bring low expectations but heaps of curiosity.

You’ll figure out the rest.

Living and staying abroad gives a great insight in other societies but much more on your own society and way of living. There is a contrast letting you see how it can work differently – and the experience of going to the bank or doctor in a foreign country, in a foreign language lets you appreciate the situation of immigrants; A few peculiar encounters and small details paint the impression of the whole country.

When blue after the initial excitement goes down, and all the food tastes different: find a sports club. It’s fun, gets you moving and is social. Tip o’ the hat to AUCC – epic times.