Postdoc pay

[SLForsburg]

BrandonVt at aol.com wrote:
>  While I really
>enjoy the work I am doing in my postdoc, I was dismayed to
>learn the salary I would be paid compared to what I would have 
>expected as postdoc had I not changed fields.  I currently earn
>$20,000 per  year with a benefits package that costs me $100
>per month for health insurance.  

This is about average.  The NIH starting rate for a new postdoc
is about $18K.  Most of the private fellowships (ACS, Damon Runyon
etc) pay on the order of $20-22 for the first year.  Often there
is an incremental increase of about $1000/yr during the course of
the fellowship.  On NIH scale, you won't approach the upper $20s
until you have 4-5 years of experience post-PhD.   

yes, it is ridiculous that a technician straight out of 
college gets paid more than a postdoc.  But, that's the way
it is right now. 

susan
susan_forsburg at qm.salk.edu