PhD salary in Europe: 26 countries compared

Starting PhD salary in Europe ranges from about €2,300 a year in Ukraine to about €55,000 to €58,000 in Germany and Denmark. Those are the starting rates under each country’s main national system, from a September 2026 survey of national pay rules. In much of northern and western Europe, a PhD is a paid job: you’re employed on a salary, usually with an employee’s rights and benefits. Across southern and eastern Europe you’re more often paid a scholarship (a stipend).

Where you land in that range depends first on the country. It also depends on whether you’re offered an employment contract or a scholarship. In countries such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland, it also matters what percentage of full time your contract covers.

Do PhD students get paid in Europe?

Yes, in most European countries funded PhD students are paid, but not always in the same way. Eurodoc, the European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers, is a federation of national associations. Its 2026 report sorts each country’s main system into one of three types:

Employment-based: you have an employment contract and a salary. Labour law, tax and social security apply, and you usually get the benefits that come with a job.
Scholarship-based: you receive a stipend without a standard employment relationship. You may have limited employment rights and reduced or no social security cover.
Fragmented or mixed: no single model dominates, and there may be no national minimum. Eurodoc found no single national system in Cyprus, Greece or Malta.

The type in the table below is each country’s main system, the one covering the largest share of PhD students. It doesn’t cover everyone: arrangements often vary within a country, and some PhD students have better terms, partial or time-limited funding, or none at all. In Italy, for example, universities may admit up to 25% of their PhD students without a grant.

What this means for you: ‘funded’ can mean very different packages. Before you compare two figures, check whether each is a salary or a stipend.

PhD salary in Europe by country

The table puts two sets of figures side by side. The first is Eurodoc’s: the starting gross pay a year for a newly enrolled PhD student under each country’s main system. Those figures are for 2024 or 2025 (Ukraine 2026), converted to euros at one day’s exchange rates (13 September 2026). Germany and Switzerland are shown as full-time equivalents.

The second, in the last column, is the latest official rate we could confirm, taken from the country’s pay table, ministry or funder.

Country	Main system	Starting gross pay a year (Eurodoc)	Latest official rate we could confirm
Denmark	Employment	€58,013.90 (DKK 433,658; 2025)	DKK 30,264.08 a month basic pay in years one and two, from 1 August 2026; pension and supplements are listed separately
Germany	Employment	€55,556.88 (2025, full-time equivalent)	€4,759.37 a month full time (TV-L grade E13, step 1, April to December 2026)
Belgium	Employment	€50,799.96 (2025)	–
Norway	Employment	€49,727.83 to €51,118.32 (NOK 536,200 to 550,800; 2025)	–
Switzerland	Employment	€49,675.18 (CHF 47,040; 2024, full-time equivalent)	At least CHF 50,000 a year gross on posts in new Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) grant applications, from 1 January 2026; existing grants may pay it
Austria	Employment	€44,580 (2025)	–
Luxembourg	Employment	€44,400 (2025)	–
Netherlands	Employment	€36,708 (2025)	€3,204 a month at the first step of the PhD scale, from 1 July 2026
Sweden	Employment	€33,718.65 to €35,959.45 (SEK 379,200 to 404,400; 2024)	–
Slovenia	Employment	€27,991.44 (2025)	–
France	Employment	€26,400 (2025)	€2,300 a month gross minimum on a public-law doctoral contract for research only, from 1 January 2026
Finland	Employment	€25,743.60 (2025)	–
Spain	Scholarship	€24,360 (2024)	€19,007.22 a year national minimum in years one and two of a predoctoral employment contract (2026)
Ireland	Scholarship	€21,996 (2025)	€25,000 a year stipend on the Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship, for awards starting 1 September 2026
Estonia	Employment	€21,600 (2025)	–
Italy	Scholarship	€16,243 (2025)	€16,243 a year national minimum, unchanged since 1 July 2022
Lithuania	Scholarship	€15,960 (2025)	–
Portugal	Scholarship	€15,115.68 (2025)	–
Slovakia	Scholarship	€13,170 (2025)	–
Czech Republic	Scholarship	€12,357.96 (CZK 299,520; 2025)	–
Latvia	Scholarship	€12,000 (2025)	–
Poland	Scholarship	€9,622.94 (PLN 41,602.80; 2025)	–
Romania	Scholarship	€8,448.88 (RON 44,400; 2025)	–
Bulgaria	Scholarship	€8,283.21 (BGN 16,200; 2024)	–
Hungary	Scholarship	€4,615.38 (HUF 1,680,000; 2025)	–
Ukraine	Scholarship	€2,263.44 (UAH 116,172; 2026)	–

Source: Eurodoc, Remuneration of Doctoral Candidates Across Europe 2024-2025 (September 2026); latest rates from each country’s pay table, ministry or funder (see Sources).

The pattern in the survey figures is clear: every country above €25,000 has employment as its main system, and every scholarship system sits below that line. Estonia is the one employment system below it, having moved from stipends to employment in recent years. Some cells need a word of explanation:

Denmark: the two figures aren’t on the same basis. Eurodoc says Danish PhD pay follows the state framework for Master’s-level academics, including pension contributions and other agreed benefits. Basic pay alone on the 2026 table comes to about DKK 363,000 a year.
Spain: Eurodoc classes Spain as scholarship-based, and its figure is for the ministry’s FPU scheme in 2024. The newer figure is the legal minimum for a predoctoral employment contract under Royal Decree 103/2019, so the two measure different things. That minimum is 56% of a reference salary in years one and two, 60% in year three and 75% in year four.
Sweden and Norway: there’s no single national figure. Swedish pay is agreed locally, so starting salaries vary between universities, and the table shows the range Eurodoc found. Norway has no legal minimum. Almost all PhD students there are covered by collective agreements, and the unions’ umbrella organisations have negotiated a single agreement for 2026 to 2028.
Latvia: Eurodoc still classes it as scholarship-based, with a figure of €12,000. Since 2024/25, though, PhD students on state-funded places are generally employed on a contract. Separate scholarships of €140 to €300 a month, for 11 months a year, go to PhD students who aren’t employed.
Italy: the national minimum hasn’t changed since 2022, but universities can pay more. The University of Parma, for example, raised its scholarship to €56,256 over three years (about €18,750 a year) from the cycle starting in 2026.

The UK isn’t in Eurodoc’s survey. We compare it further down.

Salary or stipend: what’s the difference for you?

A salary and a stipend can look similar on paper, but they don’t come with the same rights. As an employee, you’re covered by labour law and social security, and your pay is taxed. You also normally build up pension contributions and get paid annual leave, sick leave and parental leave.

Denmark shows what an employee’s package looks like. Its pay table, based on the national scale, lists your pension contribution and supplements in separate columns on top of the basic salary. The basic salary isn’t the whole package.

A PhD stipend is support for your studies rather than wages. The rights and social protection that come with one vary between countries and schemes. They can differ substantially from an employee’s, especially for pensions, paid leave and unemployment cover.

So the bigger gross figure isn’t automatically the better deal. A salary is subject to tax and social security contributions. How a stipend is treated depends on the country and the scheme, so check the offer.

Common mistake: comparing a gross salary in one country with a stipend in another as if both were take-home pay. Compare like with like, or ask each university what you’d receive after deductions.

How to read a PhD salary figure

Every figure in the table is gross pay. Eurodoc compares gross pay because tax, social security and benefits differ too much across Europe for net figures to compare fairly. If a figure you see online gives no country, year or basis, don’t rely on it. Before you compare an offer with the table, check these four things.

Is it full time?

In Germany and Switzerland, PhD students are often employed on contracts below 100%, and in Austria often at 75%. Pay, and some benefits, follow that percentage.

The German official rate in the table is the full-time rate for grade E13 on the federal states’ pay scale (TV-L). So a 65% post pays 65% of €4,759.37, about €3,094 a month. Our guide to a PhD in Germany explains the two routes to a German PhD and how to apply.

Is it monthly or yearly, and how many payments?

Some countries quote monthly pay, others yearly, and the number of payments in a year can differ. Spain’s 2026 predoctoral rates, for example, are a yearly figure paid in 12 monthly payments. Divide or multiply only once you know which basis the advert uses.

Is it the starting step?

The survey figures are starting pay. In countries with a scale, you’ll earn more in later years (see the next section).

Is it pay, or a funder’s budget?

A grant’s ‘personnel cost’ isn’t the same as your salary. The Austrian Science Fund (FWF), for example, says its yearly rates include the employer’s contributions. It also funds PhD posts for at most 30 hours a week. Ask the university for the gross salary itself.

Does PhD pay rise each year?

In several employment-based countries it does, either up a scale as you progress or because the national rate itself goes up. Three national systems show how it works:

Netherlands: the PhD scale has four steps, from €3,204 to €4,051 a month, from 1 July 2026. These figures include the 2026-27 collective agreement’s rise: 3.1%, then €50 added to every amount in the salary table, both from 1 July 2026.
Denmark: basic pay is DKK 30,264.08 a month in years one and two, DKK 32,617.08 in year three and DKK 34,763.00 in year four (from 1 August 2026).
Spain: a predoctoral contract pays at least €19,007.22 a year in years one and two, €20,364.88 in year three and €25,456.10 in year four (2026).

France works differently: the minimum on a public-law doctoral contract is set nationally and has risen in steps. It went from €1,866 a month in September 2021 to €2,300 from January 2026. Extra duties such as teaching are paid on top: each teaching hour at no less than the rate for a tutorial (TD) hour.

The industrial CIFRE route is for a French PhD done while employed by a company or another organisation in France. The employer must pay a minimum gross salary of €27,600 a year in 2026. Our guide to applying for a PhD in France covers the application side.

How does PhD pay in Europe compare with the UK?

PhD students funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) receive a stipend rather than a salary. The UKRI minimum stipend for full-time students is £21,805 a year from 1 October 2026, or £23,805 with London weighting (not offered on EPSRC awards). It applies to students funded through UKRI’s training grants, such as doctoral training partnerships. You can check the current rates on UKRI’s studentship page.

If a stipend isn’t taxed, compare it with take-home pay elsewhere rather than with the gross figures in the table. Our guide to PhD salary in the UK explains why a full-time UK stipend is usually tax-free and what it’s worth as a salary.

What to check in a PhD offer

Whichever country you’re applying to, ask these questions before you accept:

Is this an employment contract or a scholarship?
Is the figure gross or net, monthly or yearly, and how many payments a year?
What percentage of full time does the contract cover, and does the PhD expect more hours than that?
Which step of the scale do you start on, and when does pay rise?
Are pension, holiday pay or other supplements included or extra?
Is teaching required, and is it paid on top?
How long does the contract run, and what happens if the PhD takes longer?

Before you apply: if you’re considering Sweden or Finland, read our guides to PhD study in Sweden and a PhD in Finland. They cover pay and applying in each country.

Finding a paid PhD in Europe

The highest PhD salaries in Europe come with employment contracts, so look for advertised PhD posts rather than places you’d fund yourself. If you’d like a paid post in another country, our Marie Curie fellowship guide explains the Marie Skłodowska-Curie doctoral networks and how to apply.

When you find a post you like, use the checklist above and compare the offer with that country’s national scale. You can start your search with our funded PhD listings.

Sources