National Postdoctoral Association

NPA Resources

NPA Fact Sheet, An NPA resource updated annually with the last facts and figures about postdocs and their role in the U.S. workforce

Articles and Reports

Year: 2001-2008

ARISE: Advancing Research In Science and Engineering, Report from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences on challenges facing early career scientists

Postdoctoral Fellows and the Research Enterprise (pg. 25), Curtis, L., Alexander, R., Rawlings, J., Pozzi, L., Gitlin, J. (Aug 2008) ASBMB Today. pg. 25.

Postdoc Participation of Science, Engineering, and Health Doctorate Recipients, NSF InfoBrief, NSF 08-307, March 2008

Supply Without Demand, Donald Kennedy, Jim Austin, Kirstie Urquhart, Crispin Taylor, Science 20 February 2004:
Vol. 303. no. 5661, p. 1105

Postdocs: What We Know and What We Would Like to Know Proceedings of an NSF/CPST/Professional Societies Workshop, December 2002

The Pipeline and Tree: Towards a New Paradigm for Education, Training and Career Paths in the Natural Sciences, Human Frontier Science Program and European Science Foundation. Meeting Report Nov. 2001.

Careers and Rewards in the Bio Sciences: The Disconnect Between Scientific Progress and Career Progression, Richard B. Freeman, Eric Weinstein, Elizabeth Marincola, Janet Rosenbaum and Frank Solomon, August 2001.

Year: 2000 and Earlier

Trends in the Careers of Life Scientists, Committee on Dimensions, Causes, and Implications of Recent Trends in the Careers of Life Scientists, National Academy Press 1998.

What Follows the Postdoctorate Experience? Employment Patterns of 1993 Postdocs in 1995, NSF Brief 99-307, November 1998.

Postdocs and Career Prospects: A Status Report, Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology (CPST), June 1997. Scroll down page to find report. Results of a study which examines postdoctoral appointments, both permanent and temporary. The study reports on opportunities for employment, the best time to find employment and the recent trends in transitioning to the work force. (Must purchase report).

Best & Brightest: Education and Career Paths of Top Scientists and Engineering Students Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology (CPST), October 1997. A study which examines what career fields promising students are choosing and why. The report focuses on whether science and engineering disciplines are attracting a larger or smaller share of these promising students than in the past. Data were analyzed all along the educational pipeline from the choices of high school graduates, through college and graduate/professional schools, and out into the labor force. (Must purchase report.)