Whitehead ups pay for postdoc researchers

In a move that could have far reaching influence over the scale of pay for young researchers, the prestigious Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research has significantly increased the wages earned by postdocs. Once a short-term way station on the path from PhD to faculty position, postdocs now can spend years in these positions. Whitehead is raising their starting salaries from $38,000 to $47,000 with annual cost of living adjustments made after that.

Whitehead had looked at a dozen top postdoc programs around the U.S.--including Harvard Medical School and MIT--and found average incomes at $38,000, a level the research institute hit five years ago. A move by Whitehead could well inspire similar increases in the field. Researchers in a fellowship will also be offered a chance to start a retirement fund--a first.

- read the article from Inside Higher Education

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