Do post-docs get raise?

[Cory]

I know post-doc is a training period and you are not a real employee....But I was wondering if post doctoral fellows get raise every year. I am in my first year post-doc, my rent, insurance ... is going to go up. I couldn't ask any other post-docs in my lab about this as nobody wants to discuss salary or raise.

[AL]

Do you know what agency is funding your salary? If you can find that out, then you can ask the agency. You can also check agency Web sites to find out what the postdoc salary ranges are for different fields and different levels of seniority. In addition, you could also ask your boss if you can expect any kind of cost-of-living or seniority-based increase.

[K Seth]

Yes, you do, but most of the times at the discretion of the PI. Sometimes it could be in the increments of $5000/yr.

However, it mostly depends upon how productive/ useful to your boss' research. Not necessarily because your rent is going up.

[Paul]

Hi Cory,

Good question and, once again, one of the great "unwrittens" of being a post-doc. The long and short of the matter seems to be that 1) there is no obligation to give you a raise and 2) that a raise should be given.

As a result: its actually a good indicator of your performance and your mentors opinion.

My advice is to ask for an annual appraisal, as you would have in any other job. As a post-doc, you are actually in a fairly advanced position and it is important to you, on many levels, that you are sure that you are progressing in a forward manner. On a different front, its important that you ensure this is documented. Suppose you and your mentor fall out or bad feeling develops...having documentation that you were performing well in the previous year will help you support any claim for poor treatment etc.

The annual appraisal is something that everyone, post-docs included, should demand as a part of their employment. It provides a chance for grievances to aired, promotions and raises to be discussed and esteem to be boosted or egos to be destroyed. Even if it is negative, nothing destructive usually emerges from it.

Good luck

Paul

[Frank]

If you are funded by the NIH through an individual fellowship or institutional training grant, you should get a raise. You can find the stipends at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-04-023.html. If you are funded by another source, often PIs will pay you according to the NIH stipends, but they are under no obligation to do so.

[Cory]

Thanks for advice. I am actually under NSF grant (at least the project I am working on is funded by NSF). If the salary increase is based on performance, I have a good chance. My advisor and I are planning to prepare 2 papers in the next few months. I guess, I will ask my PI about the increase. I did want to make sure that post-docs get raise first. I just do not want to look like stupid in front of my boss for raising this issue.