Hi everybody,

and welcome to a rather hot topic for every MC-beginner!

The question today is: how does the fabulous sum I have read on my contract boil down to the much lower - but still, it is worth noticing, fairly high - amount I actually get?

Let's start with the basics: in Germany you are considered a "visitor researcher" (Gastwissenschaftler), and as such, your position depends on how the employing institution pays your salary. In fact, by "visitor worker" it is meant that your funds come from a third party
(german "Drittmittel" where the first and the second party would be you
and the university). Therefore you are basically employed my somebody
else (the MC foundation) to work in the university, where you use
facilities etc.

Now, the third party funds in Germany usually include the following bunches of money:

- Living allowance - your salary;

- Family allowance - if you have a family you can receive further allowances or pay less taxes;

- Research allowance - the money that your department earns and your supervisor handles for your research costs;

- Employer's costs - the money that the University has to pay for your employment.

Therefore normally the offices receive
money directly from the third party and they don't touch the allowances.
The MC funding does not include money for the offices of University.
According to the contract stipulated between MC and german
universities, however, the money from MC must suffice for the employee.
That is why the take the money they need from your "brutto", i.e. your gross salary. That's
correct.

Let's take a closer look to what happens with your actual salary.
Your scolarship includes the following:

 - Living allowance - your salary, subjected to taxation;
 -
Mobility allowance - this monthly sum should not be taxed according to
EC intentions, but it is taxed all around Germany. We can't do much
about it. You can take a look at this document;
 - Travel allowance - this yearly allowance is not taxed usually. You can complain if they do tax it;
 -
Career exploratory allowance - a sum you will only receive once, if
your scholarship lasted more than 12 months. This should be taxed, but is not always actually taxed;
 -
Family allowance - this monthly sum should not be taxed;
 - Research allowance - this goes into your department's pocket and is under head's control.

As
you can see, there is nothing to cover the employer's costs. What they
do is: they sum up your living and mobility allowance, they take what
they need, the rest is subjected to taxation, what remains is what you
see in your bank account.

Hope that helps!