Prospective Postdoctoral Fellows

The Office for Postdocs organizes a bi-monthly orientation that aims to facilitate a smooth transition to life as a postdoctoral fellow. Smart Track focuses on the essentials for a productive first year, including career planning and goal setting tools, information on various departments, offices, and resources, and education, training, and mentorship programs.

Postdoctoral training is one of the most challenging times in a young scientist’s career. Research, career advancement, professional relationships, and other priorities compete for time and resources. Need to be pointed in the right direction? Need to consult someone? The Office for Postdocs offers one-on-one advising sessions.

Everything we do at MD Anderson is guided by our core values of Caring, Integrity, Discovery, Safety, and Stewardship. We set a high bar for both our trainees and faculty, and expect them to approach their roles as a partnership. Some of the basic roles and responsibilities include:

Postdoctoral Fellow

• Accountable for own career development and best advocate for oneself
• Increases independence over training period
• Allocates time to developing professionalism and competency skills not related to research

PI/Research Mentor

• Offers time for networking and learning opportunities outside of lab
• Provides postdocs with supportive and productive lab environment
• Mentors postdoc on research and academic career path; open to helping postdoc explore non-traditional paths

During your postdoctoral training, your appointment will be managed by individuals from multiple departments, including:

Research Group: This includes the lab and faculty mentors who will guide your education and training at MD Anderson.

Department: Postdocs are appointed by their research mentors’ academic department, which helps determine the scope of day-to-day activities and responsibilities of its employees, including trainees.

Research Trainee Programs: Research Trainee Programs handles trainee-specific matters, including appointments, salary and benefits, policies and procedures, etc.

Visa and Immigration Administration: This office solely focuses on providing Visa services for international workforce members, including trainees.

Office for Postdoctoral Fellows: The Office for Postdoctoral Fellows is our trainees’ biggest resource asset during their appointments. This office addresses their research, education and career planning needs and facilitates opportunities for networking, learning and career growth. It also supports the Postdoctoral Association. Learn more about our office.

MD Anderson follows the National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirchstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) stipend scale. 

Years of Experience      Stipend for FY25

0                                            $64,000*

1                                             $65,900

2                                            $67,900

3                                            $69,900

4                                            $72,000

5                                            $74,200

6                                            $76,400

*Effective Sept. 1, 2024, starting postdoc stipends at MD Anderson are set at $64,000. Some specialties(e.g., biostatistics, bioinformatics/computational biology, therapeutics discovery, and data science) follow a higher pay scale which starts at $70,000. See a chart comparing our current and projected stipends.

Postdoc appointments at MD Anderson are limited to7 years total across all institutions.

All postdoctoral fellows who are benefits-eligible (i.e., appointment is > 4 ½ months; work at least 50% time; receive their compensation from MD Anderson) receive competitive benefits during their training. The standard benefits package includes the following:

• Medical insurance
• 160 hours vacation and 100 hours sick leave annually (full-time fellows)
• Eligible to receive 50% of salary through MD Anderson’s Reduced Paid Leave policy
• Up to 480 hours FMLA leave after fulfilling criteria
• Fitness Center membership (full-time postdoctoral fellows)
• Access to group plans for dental, vision, short- and long- term disability
• Health care and daycare spending accounts
• Enrollment in the Teacher’s Retirement System
• Access to the Employee Assistance Program, Employee Health and Well-Being, the Ombuds office, etc.

Annual sick leave carries forward annually and automatically, but the maximum amount that a full-time trainee may have at any one time is 200 hours.