Hiring Postdocs

The postdoctoral appointment at Stony Brook is intended to be a time-limited period of mentored research training, following the definition of a postdoc established by the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health. As such, Stony Brook has a term limit on the number of years a researcher may be hired in a postdoc title. Once that limit is reached, a postdoc should be transitioned into a more appropriate title for their training and level of independence with the appropriate salary scale. 

As of July 2022, Stony Brook has changed its postdoc salary minimums. See more information here. 

To help Faculty and Principal Investigators hire Postdocs, see Hiring Tips. This chart lists the qualifications, job descriptions and duty assignments that must be included on the human resource paperwork that is submitted for any Postdoc or Senior Postdoc hire. The TMS hiring system also has standardized templates that can serve as a starting point for postdoc job descriptions. For additional guidance, consult HR's resources on hiring researchers or contact Human Resources Recruiting.

Hiring international postdocs will require a few additional steps. Consult with Visa and Immigration Services. 

Finally, we encourage you to put your postdocs in touch with the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs to ensure we can serve them. They can attend a New Postdoc Welcome, which is our quarterly orientation, and complete our Postdoc and Research Scientist Info Form.