I completed an EngD a couple of years ago. As already pointed out you are funded more and for the full 4 years. I completed my EngD early and have found everything I have learnt on the EngD to be incredibly useful in industry. I became chartered straight after completing the EngD which was a nice bonus after becoming Dr.! I would recommend anyone wanting to focus on industry research to pursue the EngD and those that wish to stay in academia to go for a PhD. The salaries for graduate EngDs are good and you will get over £40k.

It is nice to be addressed as Dr. but you do move onto the next challenge, or perhaps that's just me! I think it really accelerates your career and has opened a lot of doors for me that others do not have. I also get called frequently with job offers so you can really pick and choose your work.

There might be some NI to pay if you receive more than a £109 in any week.

======= Date Modified 26 Apr 2012 16:21:21 =======
Welcome to the forum. I'm a current EngD student and am nearing the end of my 4 years. I have investigated your questions in the past.

1. I am not in a similar situation, but I am aware of others on my course that are. You must speak with your academic supervisors if your work is overwhelming your EngD.

2. When you apply for a job you normally allocate a start date. You may apply a year in advance, but I would not recommend it as HR will likely forget or ignore it. Applying within a month of when you want to start is normal.

3. You are not destined for a graduate role, so don't look for one. You should look are roles that require 4+ years experience. You can apply to senior roles.

The EngD is not intended for academic careers so you've made a good choice as your interested in industry. The EngD will make you stand out and highlight that you are a leading engineer. The EngD also satisfies the requirements for chartership so apply near the end of the EngD or soon after.

I hope this helps and let me know if you have anymore questions.

======= Date Modified 06 Feb 2012 12:57:28 =======
Considering a Myers Briggs approach you can define people into two camps (although some mixture can occur). There are people that are very organised and do everything to plan within a timeframe. There are others than do not plan so much and see how things come and react accordingly. Some leave things to the last minute and focus on more interesting stuff in the mean time. Some like to get it done asap.

I am personnally a plan and fix within a timeframe person that works normal employee hours with a little work spilling over into weekends and evenings every so often. In contrast a friend of mine will not plan so efficiently and take it as it comes, but still knows what he is doing. It is just a different approach. Neither is right or wrong. I think most academics fall into the less planning route, but not all. I'm more interested in industry where people are more plan orientated. The important thing to recognise is people can fit into the either category when they need to.

======= Date Modified 05 Apr 2011 14:01:05 =======
Redjesta, salaries do follow RPI closely.
For example a mechanical engineer in 2003 could get a salary of £19k on average. http://www.scenta.co.uk/careers/money/pay_&_prospects.cfm
Inflation takes this to £23.87k now. The average salary now is £24k.

An average salary for an EngD graduate in excess of £40k is very reasonable and what I have found from those that have graduated. Supported also by those articles that suggest with inflation included it should be £43-47k.

Very sound thinking. The recession puts the brakes on salaries, but atleast £35k minimum is on the cards. It is the case that when salaries fall back from inflation because of a recession they increase above inflation later to make up for it. Either way it is critical you are paid what you are worth. My opinion would be to drive for £40k+ and accept no less than £35k.

======= Date Modified 04 Apr 2011 20:36:50 =======
To add more info.
Consider also the EngD earns atleast as much as a PhD. Factor in 4 years work experience and you can see here http://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Degree=Doctorate_(PhD),_Engineering/Salary that a PhD with 4 years experience earns £41,762. I will keep adding info here when I find more. Please also contribute if you find any info.

Rich, I know which article you are referring to about the 50% here is the info (percentage and average £ in that range). https://www.rcnde.ac.uk/public/EngD-EngineeringTomorrow.pdf
5% 20k, 55% 25k, 20% 35k, 20% 50k
It is for 1996-2001, or on average 1998. The average salary in that sample is £31.75k. Applying inflation takes this to £46.75k in 2011.

======= Date Modified 04 Apr 2011 20:36:16 =======

Rich there is a lot of info out there and your university should be able to help you get job positions and salaries of previous students, universities are funny about giving that info out to students of other unis. I know from those that have graduated recently on the EngD programme £40k+ is the norm. I have a few resources from the web. You need to look at the date of the original salary information as there is a lot from the 90s which if you compare with a normal engineering salary from then it is a huge salary as salary rises with inflation you should take this into account. For example these two documents.
Research Councils UK 2007 - Study on the economic impact of the research councils - average 31k in 1998. £43k in 2011.
EngD-Engineering Tomorrow - 1996-2001 average £32k and again £47k in 2011.
The RPI inflation rates are as follows, 1996-2.4%, 1997-3.1%, 1998-3.4%, 1999-1.5%, 2000-3.0%, 2001-1.8%, 2002-1.7%, 2003-2.9%, 2004-3.0%, 2005-2.8%, 2006-3.2%, 2007-4.3%, 2008-4.0%, 2009--0.5% and 2010-4.8%. Whilst people have had issues getting inflation payrises in the past year, engineering is in demand and you should push to get a £40k+ salary. Above inflation payrises may come later to compensate. However do not give in to an employer trying their luck because it undervalues EngD graduates. You are/will be a chartered engineer, have done MBA modules, have run your own technical project for 4 years and the team needed to support this, you have 4 years work experience (at a level most undergrads do not get) and a doctorate.

Mackem,
The EngD is very different from the PhD. It is an R&D role in industry, you are not based in university and academia. You are based in a company working on real projects in a team of engineers. You attain 4 years industrial experience and this allows you to obtain chartership. It meets all the requirements set by the engineering council.

======= Date Modified 04 Apr 2011 11:20:12 =======
There is no reason why you shouldn't get paid more than a graduate with 4 years experience in a position where you have been running your own project, team, budget and tackling theorectical and practical problems in a commercial way. Your responsibility over the last years has been much higher than a graduate engineer. You have 4 years experience as you have been in the company, you have a doctorate and have studied MBA modules. You are highly valuable to any company. You can also apply to be chartered which you should do immediately. Don't take a salary less than £40k and push for more. The average salary for a graduate EngD is around £45k and most companies are aware of the programme. You can apply for senior engineer and project manager positions. The company I work for offered a position perfectly aimed at someone with an EngD, it is a senior engineer role, 4 years relevant experience and an emphasis on theoretical skills. The salary is £50k+benefits.

Can you work for the company you did your EngD at?

======= Date Modified 01 Dec 2010 15:52:18 =======
The EngD has the same rigour as a PhD. However there are some clear differences. The EngD is based in industry and you will be working on projects in the work place. The doctorate level comes from thorough research and development which solves difficult problems and provides solutions/products which will benefit the company you work at. You will gain 4 years industrial experience of not only technical research but also management of the project, budget and people. The EngD satisfies the requirements to apply for CEng status as soon as you complete it. The courses you do are technical and MBA courses. As for salary all EngDs I know that have just graduated are on 40-50k now. It does get you up the ladder into a better paid jobs. Experience counts for a lot later but when you have climbed the ladder earlier (i.e. project manager at age 25-27 and technical lead engineer 28-30 which the EngDs I know are now,) then you set yourself up for a good position and salary later on. It gives you around 10 years avantage in job position and salary. It also helps remove the glass ceiling because you have a lot of excellent experience and a doctorate. Although it is not a replacement for good quality hard work in your career you will not pass the EngD with out this ability. The EngD is aimed at the highest calibre of engineers. Picking the subject you are interested in is critical. However the skills and experience you develop is broad.

Durgod I think you've missed the point a little with the qualifications concept. 20+ years ago it was normal for people to get into engineering through apprenticeships and now that person will be in a higher position than any graduate coming in. However while there is still a key place for apprenticeships (and I am a fan of them) they are not an ideal route for those which wish to charter quickly and to attain a high career position. This is why there is a major support for BEng and MEng degrees. Even more so for MEng as it offers a clear route to chartership when coupled with industrial experience. The EngD takes this to a new level. It not only means you are much more employable than the MEng competition it commands a higher salary. The point of all the degrees is to introduce a standard qualification which is rigorous (meeting engineering council requirements) and puts the investment of these individuals in the hands of the university with support from industry. Going on from the BEng or MEng into an EngD gives you responsibility that most graduates will not achieve for a number of years after graduation. The first degree gives you some competence and any industrial experience you already have supports your application for the EngD but the competition is great for the limited spaces and only the best will get in. These people are expected to be amongst the highest level in industry later in their careers.

======= Date Modified 05 Oct 2010 15:21:42 =======
I have 1.5 years experience of working in an engineering firm working on projects which would be used for science. I never really left the career behind it was part of my degree. I graduated just over a year ago and the EngD opportunity came up and it was in an area I was very interested in. I was already aware of the EngD few years ago and following some research I decided to do it. I don't regret it at all.

I am 24 and will finish the EngD when I'm 27.

I normally spend only work hours on the EngD, i.e. 37.5 hours a week. The last couple of weeks I have spent a bit of time in the evening working and a Sunday. This was all due to a report deadline and I was asked to do a presentation at a conference at the last minute which made things a little tight.

You also get the normal 25 days holiday.

The time spent at university is on technical and MBA modules. You also spend time using their facilities to aid your research. You can easily spend less than 25% of your time at university if the company has everything you need.

The EngD will specialise you technically to some extent, but not like a PhD. The EngD is problem solving through innovation, practical design and project management. A requirement in any engineering career. The doctorate level comes from understanding and proving why and how you have solved a problem/number of problems and this will set you apart from the competition. This is invaluable for any company and any business area. You learn a lot about management of projects and so business skills are wide. The EngD does not mean you will be doing R&D. Even the guys with PhDs where I work are engineers so an EngD is definitely not going to limit opportunities. Your experience and qualification will put you in senior techincal design role or a team leader role.

Graduating last year I expect I would have picked up a job for about 24k and with the recession pay rises would be small. I think in 4 years time I would have broken through 30k and maybe got to 35k. I am not taxed on my stipend so to compare my stipend with this I have back calculated it to a pre tax amount. It is 27k. Not bad, but as I said no real pay rise or bonuses. However the average EngD graduate pay is 40-41k which I have found by looking at a number of surveys from various bodies and then extrapolated them by looking at the amount they increased by from following surveys and inflation. They track inflation quite well. There is no upper limit of salary. It is as high as you want to go with regards to position and salary. I think the only limitation is yourself. The qualification is very desirable with almost all large and some medium engineering firms fund it.

I have high aspirations and think this qualification will help me achieve them. Everyone has their own goals and targets, but mine are to achieve 100k salary before I'm 40 and to be a team leader of a business area. If you look into the background of most high paying positions in engineering firms you will find that a lot of them have doctorates and MBA or similar qualifications. The EngD brings both together, gives you 4 years experience and chartership.