Postdoctoral research is often considered essential while advancing the scholarly mission of the host institution; it is expected to produce relevant publications in peer-reviewed academic journals or conferences.
[2] As of 2022, however, and the broad shifts in the labor market in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, postdoc positions in at least some fields are going unfilled due to a lack of applicants.
The median salary of postdoctoral researchers one to five years after receiving their doctoral degrees is $42,000, 44% less than the $75,000 average for tenured positions.
Post-doctoral appointments that were traditionally optional have become mandatory in some fields as the degree of competition for tenure-track positions in academia has significantly increased over previous decades.
[27] On the other hand, 85 percent of engineering doctoral degree holders are likely to initially go into business or the industry sector.
[28] Under the circumstances, providing doctoral students as well as postdoctoral researchers with necessary skills for nonacademic positions has become one of the important roles for graduate schools and institutions.
[33] In 2010, postdoctoral researchers in California formed a union, UAW Local 5810 in order to secure better working conditions such as the right to file a complaint for alleged discrimination or sexual harassment through a formal grievance procedure.
The meeting included panel discussions with academics concerned about the scientific enterprise, a video message from Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, and workshops discussing training, funding, the structure of the biomedical workforce, and metrics and incentives in science which were used to generate recommendations in a white paper.
[38] Meetings organized by postdoctoral researchers in 2015 spread to New York University (NYU), Chicago and San Francisco and a second meeting in Boston discussed data collection, labor economics and evidence-based policy to advocate for changes to science, including the future of the PhD.
[40] The Indian Council of Social Science Research also offers fellowship(s) for pursuing a post doctoral degree.
[47] The postdoctoral system in China was founded in 1985 upon suggestion by Chinese American physicist and Nobel laureate Tsung-Dao Lee.
Applicants to postdoctoral positions have to pass a detailed medical check-up in order to enter the stations (Chinese: 进站).