Schools Navigating Europe Graduate School Requirements for US Students

[f95toli]

40% tax (and other deductions) as a grad student? Here we don't have to pay any taxes...

However, in Sweden most grad students WORK as a PhD. students, i.e. legally it is just another job and you have exactly the same rights/obligations as if you were working at a company which often is a big plus (especially for people with kids).
It IS possible to get a PhD. as a student (i.e. without being employed by a university) but that is pretty rare in science (but quite common in e.g. the arts; but then you need to find money somewhere else, usually via scholarships etc). And it is not 40%, more like 32-33% (depending on where you live).

 

[WarPhalange]

So no paying for tuition at that point then?

 

[Fearless]

So Phd-students get free healthcare, sickleave (don't really know the english equivalent), and a bunch of things phd-student rarely get in other non-soviet-scandinavian countries.

f95toli: I am actually going to apply to Chalmers, Uppsala and Lund when I get my degree. What do you think about those places? (Chalmers I have a good understanding of, since I go there, but what about Uppsala and Lund?)

 

[f95toli]

So no paying for tuition at that point then?

You never have to pay for tuition is Sweden, education at all government funded schools and universities is always free, you only have to pay for books etc (and of course you still need money to pay the rent etc).
As far as I know tuition is still free for foreign students as well, but that might change in the future (which would a shame).


Fearless: I studied at Chalmers and did my PhD there as well (MC2), so I don't really know much about Lund and Uppsala although the group I worked in did collaborate a fair bit with people from the latter (Angstrom).

Lund is a bit of a strange place, they e.g. have a very nice new cleanroom but they don't seem to collaborate much with other Swedish universities; they also seem to be completely focused on semiconductor physics (which is one reason I don't know much about them, I worked on superconducting devices).

 

[Fearless]

After finishing your Phd-thesis at MC2, was it hard getting a relevant job in the sector you wished to work in? Would you recommend others try to get enrolled in their Phd-programme? How hard is it for a CTH-student vs other schools to get into the phd-programme there?

Besides, Do you recommend others to take courses offered by MC2, "Nanoscience and technology"-mastersprogramme? Or is the Applied physics-programme better?

What would you say about Angstrom?

I am thankful for any information

 

[WarPhalange]

Sorry to ressurect this, but I have something else to ask.

My mom is telling me to go back to Greece to basically establish residence there so that it will be easier to get funding and stuff if I go to school in Europe. I'd basically go, register in my home town, then fly back here just in time for the 1st day of classes. I'm telling here that's pointless since it would only count for Greece and only after a certain amount of time.

Any thoughts? Do I just need citizenship to get various EU benefits, or do I actually have to be living there?

 

[cristo]

I can only answer for the uk, but i would have thought you would need to live in an EU country for three years prior to the course to qualify for EU fees. Otherwise, what's to stop everyone doing that? I could be wrong, though, and it would be easy to check by looking at the admissions webpages of one of the universities you are applying to.

 

[WarPhalange]

Good idea. Thanks.

 

[mgiddy911]

Is it possible to do Msc progam in an EU country, say Ireland, to supplement a Bs from the USA before thinking of PHD in Europe? Also could this be done while working part time over there? ie. How much work would the Msc program take? it would be a 1-2 year deal right? is it full time classes or only maybe 3 classes per term? How expensive are they generally assuming you can't get funding to pay for them?

 

[yoran]

Is it possible to do Msc progam in an EU country, say Ireland, to supplement a Bs from the USA before thinking of PHD in Europe? Also could this be done while working part time over there? ie. How much work would the Msc program take? it would be a 1-2 year deal right? is it full time classes or only maybe 3 classes per term? How expensive are they generally assuming you can't get funding to pay for them?

Most MSc are fulltime so having a job besides it (even part time) is almost suicide. Generally you'll have about 5 classes per term and usually the second year ends with a thesis. This thesis takes about a year and requires a lot of work and research.
The tuition differs from university to university so you should really check that at the university of your choice. But I am almost sure that all MSc are below 10,000 euros (which is, unfortunately for you, a lot of dollars...). Some may cost 3000 euros, some 8000. It really depends.