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Getting a PhD in Norway is nearly free--even if you're not a citizen

studyinnorway.no

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Re: Getting a PhD in Norway is nearly free--even if you're not a citizen

#61
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume you mean staff status? Mine was great - as they cancelled my astronomical library fines.

Astronomical library fines, really? I never heard of library fines that were more than a few dozen of euros for student. Well I guess that is yet another advantage of being in France that I didn't even knew I had :-). But no I did meant student status, which means most museums are free for instance, and discounts for many things such as public transportations, movie theaters, etc.

On my undergrad budget, 142EUR was astronomical. That was my food budget for over a month. Ah, the penniless days of yore.

Re: Getting a PhD in Norway is nearly free--even if you're not a citizen

#62
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Astronomical library fines, really? I never heard of library fines that were more than a few dozen of euros for student. Well I guess that is yet another advantage of being in France that I didn't even knew I had :-). But no I did meant student status, which means most museums are free for instance, and discounts for many things such as public transportations, movie theaters, etc.

On my undergrad budget, 142EUR was astronomical. That was my food budget for over a month. Ah, the penniless days of yore.

Ok, yes that's quite big. I was speaking more about something between 20 and 40€, which are part of the 100 to 200€ yearly tuition fees.

Re: Getting a PhD in Norway is nearly free--even if you're not a citizen

#63
So, the point of the linked article isn't that you are expected to get your PhD without being paid for your research work. Most if not all PhDs in Norway are paid or sponsored.

The point is that you can, having finished high school, go to Norway and get the whole 8-9 years of bachelor->masters->phd education completely free of tuition fees (disregarding the nominal ~100/year enrolment fee).

Re: Getting a PhD in Norway is nearly free--even if you're not a citizen

#64
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Scotland really a country, in the sense that we usually understand the word?

It's difficult to answer, but I'd say yes. It doesn't in the sense that Scotland (nor does England, NI, Wales) have its own embassy in other countries, etc. All members of the United Kingdom are tightly integrated (e.g. Scotland doesn't issue money, but privately held banks-e.g. Bank of Scotland-do print money on behalf of central government) so it's really difficult to say but for the most part, it's more of its own…

There is no hard-and-fast rule as to what makes a country (aka "Nation State").

However, there are a few clues:

- Issues its own currency

- Recognised as a sovereign state by other countries

- Taxes its people

- Issues passports and polices its borders

The UK does all of these. As far as I'm aware Scotland does at most 1 of them.

A couple of other notes:

- Privately-held banks don't print money on behalf central government. Those 'Bank of Scotland' notes bear a promise (obligation) made by the Bank of Scotland, and not by any government.

- That England, NI, Wales don't have their own embassy in other countries is irrelevant. I'm not arguing that they are countries.

it's more of its own country than now, I'd say.

Do you live in Scotland?

Re: Getting a PhD in Norway is nearly free--even if you're not a citizen

#65
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well in the Netherlands it's 1800 euros a year for Dutch students, so that's not free but still very inexpensive. (note that it's significantly more expensive for foreign students though)

Currently you do not have to pay a dime to do a PhD in the Netherlands. In fact, you are almost surely an employee of the university (not a "student") and get a salary of 2300+ EUR (gross) a month. The 1.8k EUR applies to MA/MSc/BA. If part of the requirement to do a PhD is a to do a MSc degree and the programme is joint you might get a waver from the university for that 1.8k EUR. Also, most Dutch get that money back…

>Foreign students can get on this action by working one day a week, somewhere (incl. TA/RA/etc.).

This has changed, I used to get this but since 2014 my job (10 hours a week) does not qualify for it anymore. I think the new regulations allow only people working more than 16 hours per-week (not 100% sure on the exact number).

Re: Getting a PhD in Norway is nearly free--even if you're not a citizen

#66
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's difficult to answer, but I'd say yes. It doesn't in the sense that Scotland (nor does England, NI, Wales) have its own embassy in other countries, etc. All members of the United Kingdom are tightly integrated (e.g. Scotland doesn't issue money, but privately held banks-e.g. Bank of Scotland-do print money on behalf of central government) so it's really difficult to say but for the most part, it's more of its own…

There is no hard-and-fast rule as to what makes a country (aka "Nation State"). However, there are a few clues: - Issues its own currency - Recognised as a sovereign state by other countries - Taxes its people - Issues passports and polices its borders The UK does all of these. As far as I'm aware Scotland does at most 1 of them. A couple of other notes: - Privately-held banks don't print money on behalf central gove…

It's all very confusing then really... Scotland does issue its own money, but it's a shared currency (just the same as the Euro is a shared currency but countries that use the Euro issue their own). So would that count? Debatable.

No country within the United Kingdom itself issues passports, so for example you cannot have an English passport. They are all British Citizens who hold British passports (which confusingly isn't a UK passport, but a passport for Great Britain and Northern Ireland).

I'm really not sure how tax works in the UK. Scotland as well as other UK members all tax, but how that is then divided up internally, I have no idea...

When you say the UK does all of these, that doesn't mean England, NI, or Wales does all of them itself.

When I say they are printed on behalf of the government, I meant that the government decides how much money is printed. As far as I'm aware, Scottish banks who have the right to print money (e.g. Bank of Scotland) cannot simply print as much money as they would like. They're printing it on behalf of the governments guidelines etc. Confusingly though, Scottish printed money isn't even legal tender, not even in Scotland.

Re: Getting a PhD in Norway is nearly free--even if you're not a citizen

#67
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's difficult to answer, but I'd say yes. It doesn't in the sense that Scotland (nor does England, NI, Wales) have its own embassy in other countries, etc. All members of the United Kingdom are tightly integrated (e.g. Scotland doesn't issue money, but privately held banks-e.g. Bank of Scotland-do print money on behalf of central government) so it's really difficult to say but for the most part, it's more of its own…

There is no hard-and-fast rule as to what makes a country (aka "Nation State"). However, there are a few clues: - Issues its own currency - Recognised as a sovereign state by other countries - Taxes its people - Issues passports and polices its borders The UK does all of these. As far as I'm aware Scotland does at most 1 of them. A couple of other notes: - Privately-held banks don't print money on behalf central gove…

And anyway, I'm not arguing for Scotland's independence, but it seems to me that people usually think England is more of a country than Scotland. They're both part of the United Kingdom equally really.
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