ORC, Research Advisory Committee Finalizing Postdoc Policy
The Office for Research Careers, formerly the Office for Postdoctoral and Research Careers, is finalizing “Policies and Guidelines for Postdoctoral Research Fellows,” which is becoming known as the “Postdoc Policy.”
ORC and the Research Advisory Committee (RAC), comprised of principal investigators, postdoctoral fellows, representatives from Human Resources and department administrators, collaborated to develop and refine a draft document that provides guidance for postdoctoral research fellow appointments. The Postdoc Policy is aligned with the ORC’s mission to support BWH researchers across the academic continuum by providing resources to support career and professional development, encouraging professional responsibility, enhancing the training experience and fostering effective mentoring.
“Postdoctoral fellows are valued members of the BWH community, and this new policy reflects our institutional commitment to them, not only during their postdoc appointments, but well beyond,” said Barbara Bierer, MD, senior vice president of Research and ORC director.
BWH welcomes approximately 300 new postdoctoral research fellows each year, with about 850 postdocs employed at BWH at a given time. Postdocs remain at BWH for an average of 3.8 years before moving on or gaining a promotion at BWH and HMS.
The policy offers guidelines and details expectations for postdocs, including postdoc and PI obligations, salary scales, time-off recommendations, expectations for annual career conferences, terms of service and termination, as well as templates and forms for use when applying the postdoc policy to operational or employee matters.
The research community can access several modes of communication directly to the ORC: Send feedback, suggestions, comments and ideas to
BWHORC@partners.org