

Non-Scientific Reasons To Do A PhD In The Netherlands - jaap_w
http://www.nextscientist.com/phd-in-the-netherlands/

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nextscientist
I am the author of the blog post.

I went for a walk and when I came back I found this mess. Excuses to those
that could have felt offended by the comments posted by some readers.

Nasty comments have been deleted. Insults and personal fights are not
acceptable in the comments section.

Please, feel free to contribute new comments to keep a useful discussion
going.

Cheers, Julio

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Gmo
Somehow, the article is polluted with islamophobic/racist comments.

But being a foreigner living in the Netherlands, I can say that most of what
is said here is true (I would put a few nuances for some points but well,
everybody has a different view on things :) )

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davedx
What do you mean? I didn't see anything like that.

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crazcarl
The comments section below the article.

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basseq
And according to the other front-page post on the Netherlands on HN right
now[1], because there are 22 American nuclear bombs stored there.

[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5853081](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5853081)

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betawolf33
I'm not convinced that a salaried PhD would be an advantage. Is there not
something rather bizarre about the government taxing the money it's giving to
you to support your studies?

I'm not sure how it works in the Netherlands, but in the UK you can claim
unemployment benefits without having to have been paying taxes (so far as I'm
aware). Surely people applying to PhD positions aren't so incapable of
managing their finances that they require payment monthly rather than
quarterly? That's the only difference I can see between a grant system and a
salaried one.

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mayank
> Is there not something rather bizarre about the government taxing the money
> it's giving to you to support your studies?

My PhD in the US was funded by NSF dollars, ie public money. I went to a state
school. My stipend was taxed like regular income. On top of that, I paid
Medicare and Social Security taxes (publicly funded government programs),
which as a non-US citizen, I cannot use anyway. When you're making less than
$20k a year in downtown Chicago, all this hurts quite a bit.

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asifjamil
As an American student studying for a PhD in Germany, I would say that
basically all of the reasons listed here could be applied to Germany as well
(except maybe the 30% rule).

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keiferski
Any thoughts on Americans studying for MA's and PhD's in Koln/Cologne?

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asifjamil
I've heard many good things about Cologne, but most of them being more geared
to the touristic/cultural side of the city. It's apparently one of the most
multi-cultural cities after Berlin I think.

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Kartificial
First time I've read an argument against the lack of language barrier,
interesting, and point well made.

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Vivtek
Let me add a real #12 - restaurant food there is plentiful and fantastic.
While I was courting my wife, she did a month in Delft. I was living in
Stuttgart at the time and went there every weekend. We repeated only one
restaurant in all that time and ate like kings.

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DigitalTurk
Having lived in Amsterdam I would strongly deny this. Restaurants in NL are
below Western European standards. And a quasi-monopoly by one particular
supermarket chain means it's a hassle to find quality ingredients for home
cooked meals too. For instance, if I recall correctly, Albert Hein ham has
about 60% meat in it and it looks really pale.

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Gmo
Oh yes, don't talk to me about the food :)

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forgingahead
Related:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_the_Netherlands](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_the_Netherlands)

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Gmo
I think the so called "30% rule" has been made stricter lately though. So
don't count on it as a 100% sure thing.

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kirk21
They are indeed very open minded and interested in new technology and ideas.

We hope that they will like our tool for PhD students: bohr.launchrock.com

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kirk21
They are indeed open minded and interested in new ideas and technologies. We
hope they will like our new tool for PhD students: bohr.launchrock.com

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davedx
Another nice fact about being a scientist (well OK, engineer) in the
Netherlands is the European Space Agency have an HQ here :)

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nextscientist
True, it's located near Leiden, where I live. They have excellent research
programs, exciting projects and great working conditions (salary and
benefits). It's full of international people and close to an international
school (for those moving in with a family).

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davedx
I'd love to work there, though it'd be an evil commute for me (I'm in Ede).
I'm even subscribed to their jobs mailing list. I haven't seen any software
developer jobs come up, though. :(

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fennecfoxen
Reason 12, I suppose, is the 22 American nuclear bombs stored there? :P

