It is estimated that there are over 50,000 postdoctoral fellows (postdocs) involved in scientific research in the United States. According to the guide issued in 2002 by the Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy (COSEPUP): "Postdocs are central to this nation's global leadership in science and engineering. It is largely they who carry out the sometimes exhilarating, sometimes tedious day-to-day work of research. It is largely they who account for the extraordinary productivity of science and engineering research in the United States. Many among them will discover fundamental new Knowledge" (Enhancing the Postdoctoral Experience for Scientists and Engineers: A Guide for Postdoctoral Scholars, Advisers, Institutions, Funding Organizations, and Disciplinary Societies. (2000) Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, National Academy Press, Washington DC.)
The contributions of postdocs are essential to the productivity of the scientific enterprise in the US. Paradoxically, postdocs are often not accorded commensurate status within the scientific community.
Postdoctoral scientists have slipped between the cracks of the scientific workforce as a heterogeneous group of ?apprentice? scientists. They generally do not have well-defined expectations of employment, appropriate employment rights and responsibilities, commensurate or even normalized pay scales, performance evaluations, consistent employment benefits such as proper health care, pensions, occupational health insurance, or procedures for resolving conflict. Young scientists are spending more time in their postdoctoral fellowships, an "obligatory credential, necessary but not sufficient to establish a young investigator?s potential". [Science 2002 October 4; 298: 40-41] A recent survey shows that many academic faculty are getting funded for the first time in their late 30s or early 40s. "Scientists must now work until midlife before they can obtain a stable income and clear benefits" [Science 2002 October 4; 298: 40-41]. The need for improving conditions for postdocs is recognized by the U.S. government, funding agencies, universities, research institutions, professional organizations and postdocs themselves.
Postdoctoral associations (PDAs) throughout the country have been working to improve the postdoc situation at the institutional level, and they serve as important precursors to and components of the proposed NPA. PDAs have worked successfully with the faculty and administration to implement long overdue institutional policy changes relating to postdocs. However, not all institutions have a PDA. Furthermore, many issues require policy attention at the national level. Addressing this need successfully is the goal of the NPA and will be an important step forward for the next generation of scientific leaders and the process of scientific discovery itself. To continue to attract and recruit quality graduate students to pursue scientific careers, the working conditions of postdoctoral scientists must be improved.
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