Postdoctoral Fellows – Employment and HR Resources
At the Georgetown University Medical Center, there are three main types of Postdoctoral Fellows:
Postdoctoral Associate (“Associate”): A Postdoctoral Fellow who receives financial support in the form of a salary as an employee of GU, paid through GU payroll, which is typically funded by grants, contracts or departmental funds secured by a faculty mentor. In these cases, the source of funding does not restrict direct payment/employment from the University.
Postdoctoral Trainee (“Trainee”): A Postdoctoral Fellow who is not an employee of GU and receives financial support in the form of a fellowship or stipend from an external source, which may be distributed by the University through accounts payable. They may be funded either from training grants (e.g., NRSA, F32, etc.) to the University or from funding awarded to the trainee from an outside source. In many such cases, due to the requirements of the funding source, trainees cannot be considered GU employees, but they are fully associated with the University and the Postdoctoral community.
Visiting Postdoctoral Affiliate: A Postdoctoral Fellow who does not receive financial support from GU and is a visitor (non-employees) to GU for a limited time for mentored training. They do not receive a salary, stipend, or direct financial benefits from GU and are not subject to the appointment framework and grievance process outlined below. They are provided with affiliate status as Sponsored University Associates, which includes GOCARD, email account, and library privileges, consistent with procedures applying to all visiting researchers. They have access to the professional developmental resources available to postdoctoral associates and trainees.
All of Postdoctoral Fellows on the Medical Center and Main Campus are subject to the the Postdoctoral Fellow Policy. The policy specifies the terms and conditions governing postdoctoral appointments and provides guidance on goal-planning practices for mentors and postdoctoral fellows.
The Postdoctoral Fellow hiring process and forms have been updated and standardized to streamline the hiring process for both HR Officers and Faculty Mentors/PIs. The updated forms and process outlined below will be effective January 1, 2025; any postdoctoral fellow hiring process/request after January 1, 2025 must use the below process and forms. Any postdoctoral fellow hiring process that has already started or starts prior to January 1, 2025 are encouraged to use the below forms and process, but may also continue to use previous processes. If you have any questions, please contact your Human Resources Officer (listed under “Medical Center Contacts” section below).
Once the recruitment is approved, the HR Officer will follow the GMS process to create a position and job requisition.
Once the job requisition has been created, the Faculty Mentor is responsible for posting the position on Interfolio and managing the entire interview and selection process.
Once a candidate has been identified, the Faculty Mentor must send a completed Offer Letter Request Form to the HR Officer.
The HR Officer will draft offer letter based on the Offer Letter Request Form and send to the Vice President for Faculty and Academic Affairs for approval; the Director of Faculty Records and Data Management will also be copied in this correspondence.
For offers with salaries outside of the approved range [2] for Postdoctoral Fellows, the Faculty Mentor must write a memo detailing the rationale for offering a higher salary outside of the approved range. The memo, offer letter, and the higher salary authorization form (HR only form) must then be sent to all the necessary individuals on the higher salary authorization form (HR only form) for approval.
Once the Offer Letter is approved, the HR Officer will send the following to the candidate to review with the Faculty Mentor and Director of Faculty Records and Data Management copied:
Once the candidate sends the necessary information and accepts the offer, the HR Officer will follow the GMS process to hire the candidate.
[1] Approvers: Business Officer (optional), HR Officer, Senior Business Manager/Finance Partner, Dean/Department Chair or Designee, CFO, VP of Faculty Affairs, Director of Faculty Records and Data Management
[2] As of July 2024, the salary range for all Postdoctoral Fellows is $61,008 – 70,000. All salaries for any Postdoctoral Fellows must fall within that range. If the range you wish to offer is outside of this, please contact your designated HR Officer. Years of experience will be a significant contributing factor in the salary decision. GUMC references the National Research Service Award (NRSA) Stipends, Tuition/Fees and Other Budgetary Levels to benchmark appropriate salaries for the Postdoctoral Fellows.
The Postdoctoral Fellow Policy outlines the following regarding renewals of any Postdoctoral Fellow position:
All Postdoctoral Fellow appointments and renewals must be approved by the relevant campus office.
Subject to the limits set forth in this policy, a Postdoctoral Fellow appointment may be eligible for renewal on or before the end of the appointment term stated in the offer letter.
Renewals are not guaranteed. They are contingent on a variety of factors, including but not limited to: the availability of funding; programmatic and research needs; satisfactory performance by the Postdoctoral Fellow; work authorization; and adherence to all University policies and professional standards of conduct.
From time to time, based on available funding and merit, Postdoctoral Fellows may be eligible for merit-based salary increases in accordance with standard University practice and budgetary terms of the external source of funding.
When requesting or processing a renewal, please follow the below process:
HR Officer (please see “Medical Center contacts” below for designated HR officer) responds to renewal request or notification via email to the faculty mentor and copying the Finance Partner to confirm available funds
Finance Partner confirms available funds for renewal
HR Officer drafts an updated offer letter based on previous offer letter
HR Officer sends Offer Letter Authorization form (HR only form) and the offer letter to the Vice President for Faculty and Academic Affairs to review and approve and copies the Director of Faculty Records and Data Management
Once offer letter approved, the HR Officer sends the following to the Postdoctoral Fellow via DocuSign copying the Faculty Mentor and Director of Faculty Records and Data Management
Please review the Goal Planning Meetings section of the Postdoctoral Fellow Policy. Below are documents to help guide those meetings (recommendations only – not required):
This Grievance Procedure applies to all Postdoctoral Fellows at Georgetown University. For purposes of this Procedure, please see the definitions of Postdoctoral Fellows in the Postdoctoral Fellow Policy.
The Office of Postdoctoral Development & Training Grant Support is committed to enriching the postdoctoral experience through career development and community-building. Please visit Postdoctoral Development to learn about development and training opportunities and resources.
