A salaried job, not a stipend — Dutch PhD positions are paid employment under the university CAO.
A crucial thing for Indians to understand: a PhD in the Netherlands is a paid job, not a student stipend. PhD candidates are employees of the university, paid on a national salary scale with holiday and year-end allowances. It is a common and respected route into the country — TU Delft alone hosts a very large cohort of Indian researchers.
PhD pay follows the universities' collective agreement (CAO-NU): a gross monthly base rising over four years, which with the 8% holiday and 8.3% year-end allowances works out to roughly €40–52K a year. Postdocs move onto a higher scale, around €50–68K. The 'senior' figure here reflects a typical postdoc, not a PhD candidate.
On a typical €45,000gross salary for this role, Pravasi's 2026 Dutch tax engine puts take-home pay at roughly:
This figure does not apply the 30% ruling — a typical €45,000 salary is below the gross the ruling requires (about €68,590 on the standard route, or about €52,139 for under-30s with a master's). See the full breakdown on the €45K salary page, or run your own offer in the calculator.
Positions are advertised individually by research groups; the technical universities — Delft and Eindhoven especially — are the biggest draw for Indian STEM researchers. Funding often comes through NWO. The salary is fixed by the CAO, so there is little to negotiate, but the package (pension, allowances, employment rights) is far better than a typical Indian or US stipend.
PhD researchers usually enter on a research/orientation residence permit rather than the kennismigrant route, sponsored by the university. PhD salaries sit well below the 30% ruling's salary bar — roughly €68,600 gross, since the minimum applies to taxable salary after the 30% deduction — so the ruling generally does not apply to PhD candidates. Postdocs, and the under-30 master's route (about €52,100 gross), can change that picture.
Check your 30% ruling eligibility →The cities that matter most for this profession: