Postdoctoral Fellows at Harvard University
 

Guidelines & Practices / Postdoc Definition At Harvard

Definition of a Postdoctoral Fellow

For the purposes of classification institutionally, Harvard defines a postdoctoral fellow utilizing the same general characteristics of the definition published jointly by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health in January 2007, as follows:

"[A postdoctoral scholar is] an individual who has received a doctoral degree (or equivalent) and is engaged in a temporary and defined period of mentored advanced training to enhance the professional skills and research independence needed to pursue his or her chosen career path."

 

Definition of a Postdoctoral Appointment

In accordance with generally accepted principles presented in the Association of American Universities (AAU) Committee on Postdoctoral Education 1998 Report and Recommendations, postdoctoral appointments across Harvard share the same characteristics as those in the following report definition:

“After a great deal of discussion among committee members, graduate deans, provosts, and presidents and chancellors of research universities, the Committee developed the following definition of a postdoctoral appointment, which was used consistently in the surveys.

  • The appointee was recently awarded a Ph.D. or equivalent doctorate (e.g., Sc.D., M.D.) in an appropriate field; and
  • the appointment is temporary; and
  • the appointment involves substantially full-time research or scholarship; and
  • the appointment is viewed as preparatory for a full-time academic and/or research career; and
  • the appointment is not part of a clinical training program; and
  • the appointee works under the supervision of a senior scholar or a department in a university or similar research institution (e.g., national laboratory, NIH, etc.); and,
  • the appointee has the freedom, and is expected, to publish the results of his or her research or scholarship during the period of the appointment.”

In addition to these characteristics, Harvard postdoctoral fellow appointments are made for one year, and depending on the term limits of individual Schools, may or may not be renewed.