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Postdoctoral Fellows

Postdoctoral fellow appointments are approved by the Faculty Affairs Office. The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs maintains relevant policy governing these appointments as well as information on professional development, mentoring, resources, and support for postdoctoral fellows.
 

Postdoctoral Fellow Titles

Postdoctoral Scholar
NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow 
Postdoctoral Fellow - Department of Education
Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow

View detailed position descriptions from the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA), with the following caveats:

  • The Feinberg Policy on Postdoctoral Fellow Stipends may set a higher minimum salary than specified by OPA
  • Postdoctoral Fellows - Department of Education are not described on the OPA website. They are recipients of Department of Education Awards, such as one from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), that require a similar stipend schedule and/or benefits status as NRSA postdoctoral fellows. Salary is not determined by the department or NU; these fellows are paid according to the Department of Education awards. 
      

Appointment Term Length

  • Standard appointment term length is one year
  • If the proposed appointment is less than one year, written justification is required to (1) explain the need for the short term and (2) confirm that upon conclusion of the short term, the postdoctoral fellow will either be reappointed for a full year or terminated
  • If the proposed appointment is longer than one year, written justification is required to (1) explain the reason for the longer term and (2) confirm that funding is guaranteed for the duration of the appointment. The maximum term length is three years.
      

Postdoctoral Fellow Stipends

All postdoctoral fellows (not just NRSA postdoctoral fellows) should receive at least the NIH NRSA rate for their years of experience as a postdoctoral research fellow. View NRSA Stipend Levels and the Feinberg Policy on Postdoctoral Fellow Stipends.

  • FAO will track the doctoral degree month/year in our database and compute years of experience from the degree date: Transaction Start Date - Degree Award Date = Years of Experience. See the Years of Experience Calculator.
  • If the calculation of years of experience for an individual is more nuanced than that and results in a Years of Experience value that is less than the value calculated using the FAO formula, the department can include justification in the Year of Experience Calculator worksheet.

Appointment Transactions (submitted via OnBase)

  • Submit requests at least 3 weeks before the effective date. You may be asked to resubmit with a revised effective date if there is not sufficient time for appointment processing.
  • If the candidate has a visa, write "VISA" in two places: (1) at the top of the first page of appointment packet, and (2) in the Comments and Notes section of the OnBase submission form. 
  • Do not contact FAO for status updates or appointment letters unless more than 3 weeks have passed since you submitted a correct and complete request (i.e., if an OnBase transaction is rejected and you need to resubmit, the 3-week timeline begins at the time FAO receives your resubmission). 
  • Recognize that transactions route through multiple offices, and approval by FAO does not mean that a request is fully processed. View OnBase Routing Workflows for more information.