Postdoctoral Scholar Appointment

Postdoctoral scholar appointments provide a full-time program of advanced academic preparation and research training under the direction and supervision of a faculty mentor. Postdoctoral scholar appointments are temporary and have fixed end dates. The total duration of an individual’s postdoctoral service may not exceed five years, including previous postdoctoral experience outside of UCSF. Under unusual circumstances, the University may grant an exception to this limit, not to exceed a sixth year.

To be appointed to a postdoctoral scholar title an individual must:

• Possess a doctoral degree (e.g., PhD, MD, etc.) or foreign equivalent
• Be funded by an organization or entity (e.g., research grant, training grant, fellowship, private/public agency, foreign government, another university, etc.).
• Be assigned responsibilities primarily for advanced academic preparation and research training
• Not have exceeded five years in prior postdoctoral scholar training 

Individuals pursuing clinical fellowships and residencies in the health sciences are excluded from appointment to these titles.

The University has the sole discretion to appoint, reappoint, or not reappoint a postdoctoral scholar and to determine the duration of such appointments.

For more information related to the terms of service, review the Postdoctoral Scholar Contract, Article 2 Appointments. 

Postdoctoral scholar appointment titles are determined by the source of funding:

• Postdoctoral Scholar – Employee Job Code 003252: An appointment is made in this title when principal investigator (PI)-awarded extramural funding or other University discretionary funds are used to support the salary for the position.
• Postdoctoral Scholar – Fellow Job Code 003253: An appointment is made in this title when the postdoctoral scholar is awarded a fellowship or is appointed to a training grant (stipend) offered by an extramural agency. The money is granted to the University, which allows the stipend to be paid through a University account via the University’s payroll system.
• Postdoctoral Scholar – Paid Direct Job Code 003254: An appointment is made in this title when the postdoctoral scholar is funded by an external agency and the agency pays the salary directly to the postdoctoral scholar, such that the funding does not flow through the University.
• Interim Postdoctoral Scholar – Employee Job Code 003256: An appointment is made in this title when a University of California graduate student who recently obtained their PhD degree or equivalent needs a short-term appointment to complete an existing project from their graduate education program before moving on to other employment. This appointment is limited to individuals who have completed their graduate work within the University of California.

A postdoctoral scholar may hold two postdoctoral scholar titles concurrently if the funding sources are combined.

• Be sure to review all appointment documents and resources received from UCSF and contact your HR generalist (trainees) with any questions or concerns.
• Keep in communication with your sponsoring faculty/department.
• Review the tax implications and responsibilities of your postdoctoral scholar title.

Upon accepting your postdoctoral scholar appointment, please plan to attend the following orientations:

• UCSF HR onboarding, scheduled on or before your official start date
• Postdoctoral scholar orientation
• If you are on a visa, the International Students and Scholar Office Orientation.
• All required training, as assigned.

​Note: If you have a visa sponsorship and it is delayed or you need to change your appointment start date for any reason, please contact your generalist and PI as soon as possible.