A new report published by The Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) suggests that PhD students work 50% more than undergraduates, among other key findings by Bethan Cornell, who uses previously unpublished data from Nature and the Wellcome Trust to uncover the reality of life as a PhD students.

Findings include:

• the average PhD student works 47 hours per week, which is over 50% more than the average undergraduate and three hours less than the average academic;
• for PhD students on the basic Research Council stipend, this equates to earning less than the minimum wage;
• over three-quarters of PhD students (78%) are satisfied or highly satisfied with their degree of independence;
• 63% of PhD students see their supervisor for less than one hour per-week;
• 23% of PhD students would change their supervisor if they were starting their PhD again now;
• the majority (80%) of PhD students believe a career in research can be lonely and isolating;
• over one-third (37%) of PhD students have sought help for anxiety or depression caused by PhD study;
• one-quarter (25%) of PhD students feel they have been bullied and 47% believe they have witnessed bullying; and
• one-fifth (20%) of PhD students feel they have been discriminated against and 34% believe they have witnessed discrimination.

The report can be found here.