I had an interview for a PhD studentship with a stipend and a fixed title. I don't think I did very well at this interview. The vacancy was advertised with a quoted figure for the stipend.

I have another interview where the vacancy is advertised as 6 positions. There are no fixed titles, but the University runs a set of laboratories with a number of themes and one would be guided through a research proposal that would fit into one of these themes.

These student-ships are also paid, but the figures are not quoted. Does any one know, is it common for these stipends to be similar from University to University or can they differ dramatically?

Any help or advice, greatly appreciated.

It's not so much that the university in question is the cause of variation in the funding amount, but rather the source of the funding.

Funding sources may include the following:
1. Government backed research councils (e.g. MRC, BBRSC, AHRC)
2. Industrial-academic partnerships (e.g. CASE studentships)
3. Purely industrial/commercial sources, usually if the PhD is based in industry
4. Charities and trusts which support research (e.g. Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation, small charitable trusts)
5. Universities themselves (this is rare)

In my experience, the best paid studentships of the non-industrial type are from large charities. For example, a friend of mine at a big university in London started on about £12-3K per year with a university-funded studentship, I was on £14-15K a year with an MRC studentship at the same institution, but a studentship from CRUK or BHF would have started about £17-8K and have had larger annual increases than the other two.

So really you need to check to see what the funding source is to get a feel for the amount likely to be paid. The only other thing to bear in mind is that stipends in London will be £2-3K a year higher than elsewhere as they factor in 'London allowance' which is supposed to offset the increased cost of living in London.

Hope this helps

Not sure if it's useful to know, but research funding comes from a range of international and national bodies including EU and EPSRC.

In that case it probably doesn't fit neatly into one of my categories! I would contact the departmental admin and just ask. I don't see anything wrong with doing that.