Postdoc Best Practices

Developing new talent to carry out high impact research is of paramount importance to the Computer Science & Engineering research enterprise.  An appointment as a postdoctoral researcher is an increasingly common starting point for a research career.  The National Science Foundation (NSF) Computer & Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Directorate and the CCC recognize the critical importance in having an excellent postdoc training experience to help junior researchers advance their careers.

With NSF’s backing, the CCC created a program to develop, implement and institutionalize the implementation of best practices for supporting postdocs. This program awarded grants to institutions and consortia of institutions to implement best practices for strengthening the postdoc experience in computer science and computing-related fields.  These supporting programs have enabled PhD graduates to transition effectively to research roles in a variety of sectors.

Information on the awarded programs can be found here.

The PostdocBP Steering Committee provides financial, administrative, and technical oversight for the Postdoc Best Practices Program.  The Steering Committee was appointed by the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Council.  Working with the Selection Committee, the Steering Committee is responsible for making all final award decisions. The steering committee includes: Anita Jones (Chair), Susan Graham, Ran Libeskind-Hadas, J Strother Moore, Bob Sproull, and Ann Drobnis.

The CCC and Postdoc Best Practices Programs have gathered resources related from the awarded programs and broader community related to the development of best practices for postdocs; the resources page can be viewed here and you can read the final report on the Postdoc BP program here.

This project is a joint effort of CRA, CCC, and NSF.