Tools & Resources

Tools for Postdocs

Postdoc Annual Individual Development Planning Tool (IDP)
- The Individual Development Plan (IDP) is a mentoring tool that links research goals with career development and progress towards independence. It is meant to foster an ongoing and recurring discussion that involves evaluation, goal setting and feedback with input from both postdoc and their faculty mentor. While the NIH and NSF require the use of IDPs for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers supported by NIH awards, HMS and HSDM strongly recommend its implementation for all postdoctoral fellows, regardless of funding source. The IDP template that is linked here provides an open framework that can facilitate an annual planning meeting between the postdoc and mentor that addresses research and professional progress. This document should be filled out by both parties beforehand and discussed during the meeting. 

HMS/HSDM Postdoc Mentoring Guidelines
- Appointment of a postdoc fellow initiates a temporary and defined period of advanced mentored training, and since they are expected to engage in independent research while also developing skills and experiences that support their specific career goals and professional development, the postdoc office has drafted Mentorship Guidelines. These guidelines are designed to link research goals with career development and progress toward independence while defining expectations for the mentor-mentee relationship, laboratory norms, research and career support, and professionalism.

AAMC Appropriate Treatment of Research Trainees (AToRT)
- The AToRT document outlines the principles that are essential for nurturing supportive and inclusive research training environments which include leadership, professionalism, and equity. It also underlines the importance of not only highlighting behaviors that are appropriate and are embodied by the essential principles but also the need for acknowledging what constitutes mistreatment and inappropriate behavior. Lastly, this document provides institutions with a framework to guide the level of response appropriate for each situation. The AToRT document is meant to be used as a supplemental resource by both research faculty and trainees in a broad range of activities. Complementing AAMC Compacts for Biomedical Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Appointees, this document was created by the AAMC Group on Research, Education, and Training

Postdoc Training Curriculum

Summary of OPF Resources and Programs for Inclusion in Grant Submission (Word document)

OPF Lending Library

NIH/NSF Definition of a Postdoctoral Scholar
- 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. 

myIDP from Science Careers
- myIDP is an online tool for helping you create an Individual Development Plan (IDP). myIDP allows for self-assessment to (a) evaluate career options, (b) customize a professional networking strategy to learn more about top-choice careers, (c) engage mentors in career-related discussions, and (d) implement strategies for how to set goals tailored to skills development and career advancement needs

HMS Postdoc Training for Rigor and Transparency in Research
NIH "Rigor and Transparency in Research" Policy - This is a new NIH policy announced in October 2015, with implementation starting January, 2016. The policy applies to most research grant proposals (mechanisms R, P, U, K). Rigor and Transparency must be addressed in Progress Reports (RPPR), due after January 25, 2016. (Section B - Accomplishments). It will apply to institutional training grants and fellowships (T, F, & K12) in FY17. It does not apply to equipment or conference grants.  See the Rigor & Reproducibility policy site for policy details and implementation requirements.

 Tools for Faculty

Postdoc Training Curriculum

NIH/NSF Definition of a Postdoctoral Scholar
- 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. 

Switching between Internal Postdoc to Stipendee Postdoc: Benefits Impact

Summary of OPF Resources and Programs for Inclusion in Grant Submission

TEMPLATE for NIH Research Performance Progress Report, Section B.4 "Training and Professional Development/Individual Development Plans"

Postdoc Annual Individual Development Planning Tool (IDP)
- The Individual Development Plan (IDP) is a mentoring tool that links research goals with career development and progress towards independence. It is meant to foster an ongoing and recurring discussion that involves evaluation, goal setting and feedback with input from both postdoc and their faculty mentor. While the NIH and NSF require the use of IDPs for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers supported by NIH awards, HMS and HSDM strongly recommend its implementation for all postdoctoral fellows, regardless of funding source. The IDP template that is linked here provides an open framework that can facilitate an annual planning meeting between the postdoc and mentor that addresses research and professional progress. This document should be filled out by both parties beforehand and discussed during the meeting. 

Sample/Template Offer Letter (Employee)

Sample/Template Offer Letter (Stipendee)

Sample/Template Offer Letter (Direct Pay)

HMS Postdoc Training for Rigor and Transparency in Research
NIH "Rigor and Transparency in Research" Policy - This is a new NIH policy announced in October 2015, with implementation starting January, 2016. The policy applies to most research grant proposals (mechanisms R, P, U, K). Rigor and Transparency must be addressed in Progress Reports (RPPR), due after January 25, 2016. (Section B - Accomplishments). It will apply to institutional training grants and fellowships (T, F, & K12) in FY17. It does not apply to equipment or conference grants.  See the Rigor & Reproducibility policy site for policy details and implementation requirements. 

Broader Impacts Guide for NSF Grants

Tools for Administrators

Degree Verification
To hold an appointment as a Research Fellow, the candidate must have received a doctoral degree at the time of appointment. Ordinarily, the candidate will have earned a doctorate recently. Acceptable verification is either a certificate of completion from the degree-granting institution or a letter from the institution’s registrar. Such documentation should state that all requirements for the doctorate have been successfully completed and should verify the date the degree has been or will be conferred. If the candidate received their degree from Harvard, written verification from the chair or director of graduate studies, on department letterhead, may suffice. 
If a department cannot capture the date of conferral, the individual should be hired as an Associate, Academic at the expected postdoc salary. Once the degree date has been confirmed, the individual is transferred from Associate, Academic to the appropriate postdoc job code. Thereafter, proof of degree is submitted to the department HR coordinator and entered into PeopleSoft.

Postdoc Training Curriculum

NIH/NSF Definition of a Postdoctoral Scholar
- 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. 

Summary of OPF Resources and Programs for Inclusion in Grant Submission

TEMPLATE for NIH Research Performance Progress Report, Section B.4 "Training and Professional Development/Individual Development Plans"

Sample/Template Offer Letter (Employee)

Sample/Template Offer Letter (Stipendee)

Sample/Template Offer Letter (Direct Pay) 

How postdoc benefits are handled upon exit/termination (with exception of vacation payout and Harvard-sponsored retirement). 

Reports & Articles of Interest
(The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and and opinions of the OPF or Harvard Medical School.)

Annual Planning Meeting as an IDP (Angela DePace Molecular Cell paper)

AAMC - "Compact Between Postdoctoral Appointees and Their Mentors: A framework for aligning the graduate student mentor-mentee relationship" (January 2017)

The Postdoctoral Experience Revisited (National Academies of Science, 2014)

The Biomedical Research Workforce Working Group Report

"Improving Graduate Education to Support a Branching Career Pipeline: Recommendations Based on a Survey of Doctoral Students in the Basic Biomedical Sciences"

"What Do I Want to Be with My PhD? The Roles of Personal Values and Structural Dynamics in Shaping the Career Interests of Recent Biomedical Science PhD Graduates"

"Rescuing US biomedical research from its systemic flaws"

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