Postdoctoral Associates and Fellows | NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Postdoctoral Associates and Fellows

The Office of Research Postdoctoral Associates and Fellows page serves as a resource for departments at Tandon, providing guidance on policies, processes, and best practices. Postdoctoral Associates and Fellows agree to abide by all applicable NYU policies, including but not limited to the Postdoctoral Appointments Policy for NYU Washington Square and NYU’s nondiscrimination and anti-harassment policies, conflicts of interest policies and intellectual property policies.

For inquiries, please email TandonVDR@nyu.edu

PostDoctoral Appointment

Postdoctoral Associate

Postdoctoral Associates are employee-trainees that are:

  • Recent doctoral recipients (less than five years)

  • Provided training and career development through paid employment

  • Supported by sponsored projects or other non-appropriated university funds

  • Supervised by a principal investigator whose funding is often from external sources

  • Must be appointed for a minimum of 12 months

For the Postdoctoral Associate appointment process, please refer to the Research Appointment Hiring Process.

0-5; post-PhD trainee

Minimum Requirement:

Ph.D. degree in Engineering or a related technical field

As of FY24, the minimum salary requirement is $62,500. Each year of relevant postgraduate experience is usually recognized with a 2.5% increase to the minimum salary.

Note: A new minimum salary is pending and will be posted here when approved.

A Postdoctoral Associate is not permitted to receive a housing allowance unless the sponsored projects or other non-appropriated university fund (that they are paid from) specifically denotes housing as an allowable expense (this is rare).

NYU Tandon maintains a very limited pool of apartments reserved for new postdoctoral associate hires only. At this time, no housing is available.

When available, the process and application can be accessed at this link.

 

Postdoctoral Fellow

Postdoctoral (or postdoc) fellows are described in the Postdoctoral Appointments Policy for NYU Washington Square. A Postdoc Fellow appointment carries no commitment of salary or fringe benefits from NYU Tandon’s operating budget, grants, or fellowships.

Postdoc Fellows are trainees but are not NYU employees. They are not required to perform any services for NYU or sponsored projects. They are at NYU solely to perform research and pursue scholarships for their own professional development.  

Postdoc Fellows cannot have any responsibilities from their host department. They cannot be made to carry out research tasks or projects for a supervisor or given teaching requirements. They are at NYU to carry out their own independent research.

As Postdoc Fellows are not employees we cannot require them to be onsite. They may have separate stipulations that they must fulfill from their external funding agencies, which the fellow is responsible for following.

Postdoc Fellows are supported through external funding sources such as fellowship or grants. Their external fellowship or grant is paid directly to them.  Fellows receive mentored career development. They typically define their own research projects, goals, and publication timelines, often in consultation with their NYU faculty mentor.

Consistent with the University’s Postdoctoral Appointments Policy for NYU Washington Square, appointments are for one year. Renewals are made annually and will be based on satisfactory performance, mutual agreement between the fellow and the postdoc fellow’s primary mentor, and availability of external funding.

Post Doc Fellows (Uncompensated 103-542/Job Profile 017053) are eligible for only medical/prescription, dental and commuter benefits and they are responsible for the cost of the health insurance. They are billed directly for premium payments through HealthEquity (Guide of NYU Postdoc Fellow Benefits.)

Interested candidates should contact the Tandon faculty member they wish to work with for postdoctoral training. If the Tandon faculty agrees to serve as a mentor, the faculty should then work with the Department Administrator, who will initiate the application process.

The department admin in coordination with the faculty will create a folder in NYU Box with the application material. The subfolder should be titled “Dept_PostdocFellow_LastNameFirstName of postdoc” (e.g., CUE_PostdocFellow_DoeJane).

The application material must include:

  • Postdoctoral Fellow Application Form
  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Official documentation on the organization’s letterhead from which the external scholarship, fellowship and or grant is being provided. The documentation should include details of the funding package
  • Postdoctoral Fellow Offer Letter (after it is reviewed/approved by the Office of Research)

Postdoctoral fellows are not eligible for Postdoc Housing. Postdoctoral fellows are responsible for arranging their own housing accommodations. Please note that Tandon and the Office of Research do not offer housing assistance.

If the candidate for the Post Doc Fellow requires sponsorship of a visa, the department administrator should coordinate the visa process with Tandon Human Resources (HR). Similar to any other visa sponsorship requirements, the posted timelines for visa processing posted on the Office of Global Services (OGS) would apply.

All visa petitions are initiated through Tandon Human Resources via Smartsheets request form.  Once the package is complete, Tandon HR will share the complete package with the Office of Global Services (OGS).  

All visa petition requests must be reviewed and approved by all appropriate levels at NYU Tandon, including, but not limited to the Department Chair, Senior Director of Human Resources, Vice Dean of the Office of Research, Vice Dean for Finance and Administration and the Dean.

All visa-related questions should be directed to your department administrator, who will work with Tandon Human Resources and OGS as needed.

Complete and submit the application documents with all department signatures (Chair and Faculty Mentor):

  • Coordinate the application process with the Office of Research.
  • Notify the incoming postdoctoral fellow once approved by the Office of Research.
  • Onboard and assist with establishing a presence at NYU and their department (ID Card, email address, website presence, complete the NYU Tandon Sailpoint for building access, etc.).
  • Coordinate the visa process with Tandon HR and Office of Global Services.
  • Provide contact information for the administrative staff in the department.
  • Provide information about department administrative practices.
  • Ensure the postdoctoral fellow has completed any NYU training modules, if any.
  • Please note that schools and faculty mentors are responsible for reappointments.
  • Review and approve the Postdoctoral Fellow application and supporting documents.
  • Advise and Coordinate the Postdoc Fellow and Professor on applying for the NYU Health Insurance Plan with Central HR.
  • Notify department administrator of approval of postdoctoral fellow.
  • Coordinate and review all appointment details for all potential new incoming Post Doctoral Fellow appointments with the department and Office of Research to ensure that it is in line with NYU’s policy on Postdoctoral Appointments Policy for NYU Washington Square
  • Assist the Department Administrator in the visa process, if applicable.
  • Review all onboarding requests for Post Doctoral Fellows submitted by the Department Administrators.  

For inquiries, please email TandonVDR@nyu.edu