Postdoctoral research is scholarly research conducted by a person who has recently completed doctoral 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. 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".[1]
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In the United Kingdom, one-quarter (25%) of those who attain doctorates in the natural sciences continue to undertake postdoctoral research.[2]
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 (NPA) is a member-driven organization that provides a voice for postdoctoral scholars in the United States.
In many instances postdocs are expected to work at least 60 hours with no extra compensation.[3][4] In addition, Professors can use the relatively cheap, yet highly trained and specialized, labor (especially in biomedical research where the NIH minimum guideline was, in the year 2011, approximately $38,496 with no benefits)[3][5] of postdocs to further their own careers. Many common complaints amongst biomedical postdoctoral researchers against their project's principal investigators are:
Recently, postdocs in California formed a union in order to secure better working conditions, such as the right to sue for sexual harassment.[12] Furthermore, new hires will receive the NIH minimum salary and pay raises of 1.5% to 3% are now guaranteed.[4][12]
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.
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,[13] AU$63,451 p.a. at the University of Melbourne,[14] and AU$67,140 p.a. at the University of New South Wales.[15]
Alternatively the Australian Research Council (ARC) provides highly competitive Postdoctoral Fellowships. For example their Discovery Projects,[16] funds 3 year Fellowships, beginning in 2009, with AU$61,399 p.a.[17] Furthermore, a mandatory superannuation payment of 11-17% is paid by Universities.[18]
In Norway, 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.