Hi all,

Has anybody else had this? I've just started my phd and am funded by BBSRC. They duly payed me a payment of £3528 for my first three month period on Thursday. Yet on Friday, the university itself paid me £3500 (exactly) too. I wasn't aware they were paying me anything? Is this normal and meant to happen?

A (temporarily I fear) rich PhD Student

Wow, that sounds wicked, if I was you I'd stick it in a high interest savings account and keep quiet til someone says something!

The leprechaun on my shoulder says keep it - get back at the system that's set-up to keep students skint! The angel on the other shoulder says that's dishonesty - over 3 years that's over £40,000 the University no longer has to spend on books and everything else! You'll also feel terrible when your colleagues complain about how skint they are!

... If you do invest it, then by law if the University ever asks for it back you are obliged to give them all interest/earnings accrued from that money too. Just a thought before you get carried away...

Sounds highly irregular...if that is correct your annual stipend would be more than 28k (about 8K more than a new post-doc and they’d have to pay tax on it!). It's worth checking with someone at the Uni, you don't want to spend it and then find you have to pay it back. However, if you find it's all yours then great, go out and party! [And then tell me where you are studying so I can try to get a 2nd PhD there, more profitable than post-doc-ing! ;o)]

Lol. Thanks guys. I shall probably have a word with the uni - as you say, I'll only end up paying it back in the long run.

Still, it was just nice to see my balance so healthy, albeit for a short while!

Just an update - just found out that my studentship is one of those extra special targeted priority studentships. Might that explain the (significantly) higher payment?

Ignore last message - this only gives me £2000 extra per year. Not £14,000 extra. Oh well, guess its not mine!

Wow, maybe the uni has paid you someone elses stipend by mistake ? I got BBSRC too and was direct from them, do the other research councils pay students direct or via the universities ?