The Invisible University: Postdoctoral Education in the United States. Report of a Study Conducted Under the Auspices of the National Research Council. [Richard B. Curtis, Study Director] (1969) / Chapter Skim
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THE STUDY
THE STUDY
Pages 39-48
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From page 39... ...
At most institutions there is no coordination and no contact between the postdoctoral activity in one field and that in another. As Robert Alberty, Dean of Science at MIT, remarked in a speech to the National Research Council in the spring of 1968: "The graduate students 39
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From page 40... ...
In lieu of hard data, except for a few national fellowship programs, Berelson applied the 1 Unfortunately the information requested of universities in this CASE Phase II study will not include those postdoctorals whose stipend is paid by a nongovernmental source, but whose research expenses are supplied from the mentor's federal contract or grant. Bernard Berelson, Postdoctoral Work in American Universities, Journal of Higher Education, Vol.
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From page 41... ...
In addition Myron Rand has written a short history of ihe National Research Council Fellowships describing the development of that important program that "contributed to the spectacular rise from mediocrity to world leadership in scientific research which the United States has accomplished during the one generation in which the fellowship experiment has been in progress." In none of these studies is there an overview of the extent and nature of postdoctoral activity in the United States. The present study was undertaken by the National Research Council to provide that overview.
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From page 42... ...
There are a number of temporary postdoctoral appointments that we want to exclude or at least to amplify the conditions under which they may be included. The first is the appointment to instructor or assistant professor.
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From page 43... ...
We decided that the criterion ought to be whether a formal appointment has been made by the host institution. Another ambiguous group is what Clark Kerr4 has called the "unfaculty." These are the professional research personnel who are more or less permanently appointed to the research staffs of institutes and departments of universities without having regular faculty appointments.
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From page 44... ...
A man supported by a fellowship generally has the word "fellow" in his title: however, a man supported on faculty research funds may be called a "fellow," a "research fellow," a "research associate," a "research assistant professor," etc. At many institutions a research associate is a young postdoctoral supported by faculty research money, while at the California Institute of Technology a research associate is a distinguished visiting scholar who does not teach, regardless of his source of support.
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From page 45... ...
3. Appointments of holders of professional doctoral degrees who are pursuing research experience are included even though they may be candidates for a second doctoral degree.
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From page 46... ...
etc. Although some of this information can be partially gleaned from federal agencies and private funding sources, most of the data did not exist.
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From page 47... ...
In addition we have had commentary from directors of nonprofit, government, and industrial laboratories on the effect of the growth of postdoctoral education on their activities. Interviews have been held with program officers in the several federal agencies supporting the bulk of the research in universities to determine the part that consideration of the postdoctoral plays in their awarding research grants and contracts to universities.
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From page 48... ...
Separate studies such as the report of the Commission on Human Resources and Advanced Education8 demonstrate that, as measured by the rate at which published work is cited by others, former postdoctoral s do more important research than those researchers who have not had postdoctoral appointments. The combination of these two concepts leads to the rather obvious conclusion that better PhD's do better research.
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