National Postdoctoral Association launches effort to address Postdoc stipend in congress

[nam78_two]

This isn't related to actual science but if you are a postdoc, this would affect your (presumably already meagre :eyes:) stipend.

http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=eoJMIWOBIrH&b=1438743&content_id={7FEF6CC1-58AE-4A26-A4DE-7341F905A932}¬oc=1
http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/site/c.eoJMIWOBIrH/b.3993185/
http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/site/c.eoJMIWOBIrH/b.3993211/

The NPA recently sent a letter to the Director of NIH, expressing our concern about the stipend freeze for FY2008. It is not too late to prevent a further erosion of stipend levels in FY2009. The President has submitted a budget request to Congress that includes a one percent stipend increase for the NRSA program next year. The NPA believes this amount needs to be greater, in order to provide for the basic economic needs of postdocs, while also maintaining the prestige of this national award. The NPA encourages those who are concerned about postdoctoral stipend levels to contact their U.S. Representatives and Senators in Congress. We have sent a similar version of a sample letter (see below) to the Chair and Ranking Minority Members of the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies, and the Senate Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies.


We have also provided a sample letter (in rich text format) which you can adapt and personalize for maximum impact. Please be sure to use your own words to avoid the perception that this is a form letter. We encourage you to include a personal story about how the NIH stipend freeze has impacted you and your colleagues. Please be advised that e-mails sent to Congress do not receive individual replies, and do not come close to carrying the same influence as U.S. mail. Please take a few extra moments to use this more powerful communications tool.

More at the links....

[Duppers]

1. Wow. Thanks for bringing this to our attention

I had no idea there was such an org! This is an excellent resource for people beginning a career.

"The NPA is committed to serving the diverse needs of the entire postdoctoral community. This commitment includes all of the various research disciplines and categories of institutions that sponsor postdocs, such as universities, government, and industry. The NPA also is working to address the needs of underrepresented groups of postdocs including minorities, such as women, people of color and those with disabilities.

http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/site/c.eoJMIWOBIrH/b.1423705/k.2DD5/Diversity_Programs__Resources.htm

Career Level - Stipend for FY 2007 Postdoctoral

Years of Experience:

0 - $36,996 (frozen)

1 - $38,976

2 - $41,796

3 - $43,428

4 - $45,048

5 - $46,992

6 - $48,852

7 or more - $51,036

http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/site/?c=eoJMIWOBIrH&b=3993211

This seems like peanuts for people who have worked so hard in grad school getting their degrees --- a person spends what seems like an eternity in grad school sweating blood and tears to get a technical or scientific PhD, only then to have to take a subordinate position until some institution, laboratory, or university will hire them at a full professional salary.

I currently have no personal story to relate in a letter, but I shall try to adapt their form letter. (My son will be in the postdoc market in a few short yrs.) Mr. duppers, PhD, had to take a NIH postdoc back in the 70's for a measly $15,000. Oh woe, do I remember those days. We had education debt and peanuts to live on. Especially because I know how difficult it is, I most certainly will try to help others and will write.


Thanks for posting this.

[caraher]

2. It's an inherently exploitative system

Why should the pay scale have entries down to "7 or more" years? Remember, that's POST-PhD. In a healthy system people would move on after maybe 4 years as a postdoc. There are also lots of disparities between disciplines. In my field there's substantial overlap with physical chemistry, and a grad student I knew was about to accept a postdoc offer when he learned that the pay would be only a small increase over his graduate stipend. If you do an experiment in a chemistry lab the pay may be very different from doing the same experiment in a physics lab (and possible yet another value for engineering).