The NPA is working closely with federal agencies and other national organizations to implement policy changes that will benefit postdocs, while also working to foster policy changes at the institutional levels. As a result:
More than 160 institutions have now adopted portions of the NPA’s Recommendations for Postdoctoral Policies and Practices.
The NIH leadership has:
identified the NPA as one of the key drivers of its policies regarding postdoctoral training.
increased the institutional allowance to cover the rising costs of health insurance for postdocs supported on research fellowships and training grants.
issued new guidelines for professional development and data collection for postdocs supported on institutional training grants.
clarified its policies to facilitate mentoring for postdocs supported on research grants
The National Science Foundation has:
initiated a feasibility study on expanding the data collected on postdoctoral scholars and has invited the NPA to serve in an advisory capacity on this project.
issued new guidelines on postdoc mentoring for principal investigators with research grants funded by the GeoSciences Directorate.
The U.S. Congress has:
required NIH to expand its data collection efforts regarding postdocs supported on research grants
required NSF to include mentoring plans in all research grant applications that seek funding for a postdocoral scholar position
