National Postdoctoral Association

The Role of the NPA in the Research Community

Before 2003, there was no national organization with the sole aim of achieving improvements in the postdoctoral experience. The NPA sought to crystallize the diffuse postdoc debate and provide a focal point for achieving administrative and policy changes.

In 2002, a steering committee comprised of chairs and founding members of institutional postdoctoral associations coalesced during Science's NextWave Postdoc Network meeting in Washington D.C.

The NPA was founded in 2003 with an ambitious agenda to enhance the quality of the postdoctoral experience.  The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation were instrumental in establishing the NPA, which was incorporated in 2005 as a non-profit organization.

Since its founding, the NPA has assumed a leadership role in addressing the many issues confronting the postdoctoral community that are national in scope, requiring action beyond the local level. Through advocacy based on hard data, the NPA brings about changes that benefit postdocs and other parties interested in seeing the research enterprise flourish.

Key alliances include the following:

• Research Institutions
• Postdoctoral Affairs Offices
• Postdoctoral Associations
• Professional Organizations, including American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Association of American Medical Colleges (AAAMC) GREAT Group, and Sigma Xi
• Foundations, including the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund
• Scientific Funding Agencies.