Pay Rate Reminder for New or Reappointed Postdoctoral Scholars
Dear faculty,
As a reminder, the minimum salary for new or reappointed postdoctoral scholars at Northwestern was raised to $56,484 starting on March 1, 2024 to match the minimum postdoctoral salary set by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
As stated in our November 2023 message, any postdoc with a start date or reappointment date after March 1, 2024 must be appointed at the NIH minimum salary in effect at that time. On April 23, the NIH released their new pay levels for 2024. The new pay levels begin at $61,008 for postdoctoral scholars and is upwardly adjusted based on years of experience as you will find on this chart.
Effective immediately, any new postdoctoral scholar at Northwestern must receive a minimum salary of $61,008. This same minimum salary applies to current postdoctoral scholars upon reappointment.
As previously stated, we encourage all faculty to compensate postdocs based on their level of experience and expertise. Moreover, we encourage regular conversations between faculty mentors and postdocs that consider accomplishments, experience and merit in setting appropriate annual salaries.
Thank you for your continued commitment to our postdoctoral scholars.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Hagerty
Provost and First Chicago Professor of Finance
Kelly Mayo
Dean of The Graduate School and
Associate Provost for Graduate Education
Eric Perreault
Vice President for Research