Happy Postdoc Appreciation Week!
September 21st – 25th is National Postdoc Appreciation Week.
You may be wondering, ‘what exactly is a postdoc?’ According to the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA), a postdoc is: “…an individual holding a doctoral degree who is engaged in a temporary period of mentored research and/or scholarly training for the purpose of acquiring the professional skills needed to pursue a career path of his or her choosing.”
Postdocs work in academic, government, private nonprofit, and industry laboratories.
According to the most recent (2013) Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Sciences and Engineering survey, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, 564 academic institutions in the United States reported a total of 61,942 postdocs in science, engineering and health. In this survey, Tufts reported 149 postdocs in these fields.
So, wish the postdocs you know a happy Postdoc Appreciation Week!
For more information on postdocs, check out:
National Postdoctoral Association
The Postdoc Series: Insights, Options, Careers (NatureJobs Blog)
The Future of the Postdoc (Nature News Feature)
Post contributed by Laura Pavlech