Postdoctoral researcher
Encyclopedia
Postdoctoral research is scholarly research conducted by a person who has recently completed doctoral
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...

 studies, normally within the previous five years. It is intended to further deepen expertise in a specialist subject, including acquiring novel skills and methods. Postdoctoral research is often considered essential to acquiring advanced training for the trainee while advancing the scholarly mission of the host laboratory and/or institution, and is expected to produce relevant publications accordingly. In some countries, postdoctoral research may lead to further formal qualifications or certification, while in other countries, it does not.

Postdoctoral research may be funded through an appointment with a salary or an appointment with a stipend or sponsorship award. Appointments for such a research position may be called Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Postdoctoral Research Associate, or Postdoctoral Research Assistant. Depending on the type of appointment, postdoctoral researchers may work independently or under the supervision of a principal investigator
Principal investigator
A principal investigator is the lead scientist or engineer for a particular well-defined science project, such as a laboratory study or clinical trial....

. However, a designated postdoctoral research appointment may also be taken up when other suitable positions are not available, rather than merely pursuing the deepening of scholarly experience.

In many English-speaking countries, postdoctoral researchers are colloquially referred to as "postdocs".

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, one-quarter (25%) of those who attain doctorates in the natural sciences continue to undertake postdoctoral research.

United States

Postdoctoral research may be required for obtaining a tenure-track faculty position, especially at research oriented institutions. Post-doctoral appointments—that were traditionally optional—appear to have become mandatory in some fields as the amount of competition for tenure-track positions in academia has drastically increased over previous decades. The National Postdoctoral Association
National Postdoctoral Association
The National Postdoctoral Association is a non-profit 5013 educational organization that is dedicated to enhancing the quality of the postdoctoral experience for all participants. Since its founding in 2003, more than 160 institutions have adopted portions of the NPA’s Recommendations for...

 (NPA) is a member-driven organization that provides a voice for postdoctoral scholars in the United States.

Mistreatment of Postdocs and the rise of postdoc unions in California

In many instances postdocs are expected to work at least 60 hours with no extra compensation. In addition, Professors can use the relatively cheap, yet highly trained and specialized, labor (especially in biomedical research where the NIH minimum was, in the year 2000, approximately $27,000 with few benefits) of postdocs to further their own careers. Many common complaints amongst biomedical postdoctoral researchers against their project's principal investigators are:
  • Being punished for becoming pregnant and/or not being given maternity leave.

  • Authorship of papers being shared or given away to people who did not contribute to the work (or intentionally misleading a postdoctoral scholar about authorship).
  • Name calling and insults.


Recently, postdocs in California formed a union in order to secure better working conditions, such as the right to sue for sexual harassment. Furthermore, new hires will receive the NIH minimum salary and pay raises of 1.5% to 3% are now guaranteed.

Canada

Salaried appointments for postdoctoral research vary from CAD $25,000 to over $70,000 depending on the field of research, source of funding and research institution.

Australia

Salaried appointments at the minimum Level A for academic salaries, for doctoral qualified employees (beginning in 2008) are set at AU$66,155 p.a. at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...

, AU$63,451 p.a. at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...

, and AU$67,140 p.a. at the University of New South Wales
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales , is a research-focused university based in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

.

Alternatively the Australian Research Council (ARC) provides highly competitive Postdoctoral Fellowships. For example their Discovery Projects, funds 3 year Fellowships, beginning in 2009, with AU$61,399 p.a. Furthermore, a mandatory superannuation payment of 11-17% is paid by Universities.

Norway

In Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, postdoctoral temporal research appointments (Norwegian: postdoktor) are usually taken up for 2-4 years. Such positions have been funded by the various Norwegian research councils since the 1980s, mostly by grants to individual award holders. However, since 1998 universities have also been directly funding these positions, which led to a significant increase of positions available.

See also

  • Research associate
    Research associate
    The title of research associate is used to denote an academic research position at a university or similar institution. A research associate usually conducts research under the supervision of a principal investigator. In contrast to a research assistant or research officer, a research associate...

  • Research fellow
    Research fellow
    The title of research fellow is used to denote a research position at a university or similar institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a principal investigator...

  • European Research Charter
  • EURODOC
    Eurodoc
    Eurodoc is the European federation of national organisations of young researchers. Young researchers are the ones currently undertaking their doctorate or PhD holders in their first years of their post-doctoral research career .As a non-profit organisation,...

     — the European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers.
  • National Postdoctoral Association
    National Postdoctoral Association
    The National Postdoctoral Association is a non-profit 5013 educational organization that is dedicated to enhancing the quality of the postdoctoral experience for all participants. Since its founding in 2003, more than 160 institutions have adopted portions of the NPA’s Recommendations for...

    - NPA (USA)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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