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the City University of New York, and
Cornell University, with 63 postdocs
participating since the start of the program) led by Shih-Fu Chang and Julia
Hirschberg; a consortium of the three
research universities in Arizona led by
Chitta Baral and Partha Dasgupta at
Arizona State University and including
the University of Arizona and Northern
Arizona University ( 47 postdocs since
the start of the program); and a single
CS department program at the University of Washington ( 50 postdocs since
start) led by Brian Curless. Each group
includes evaluators to conduct surveys
and focus groups, measuring the effect
of the programs implemented. We will
refer to the three sites by state name or
university in this Viewpoint.
The purpose of this Viewpoint is two-
fold: to raise awareness right now about
the need to serve the often neglected
THE NUMBER OF postdoctoral fellows in computer science (CS) has risen dramatically in recent years. Studies how that U.S. and Canadian
Ph.D.’s taking postdoc positions have
tripled since 2000, 7 and the total number
of postdocs in the U.S. rose to new, sus-
tained highs over 2009–2014.6 It is now
clear that postdocs are a substantial
constituency in research-focused uni-
versity departments.
The Computing Community Consortium (CCC), whose mission is to
promote the vitality of computer science research, observed that postdocs
in CS now play a much enhanced part
in the conduct of research and education at universities. Postdocs are
in training positions yet, anecdotally,
most departments pay little heed to the
training they receive. Certainly, support
for postdocs is not on par with the education of graduate students. CCC asked:
what are best practices in supporting
the computer science postdoc population? An early document by Jones and
Gianchandani3 analyzed such best
practices and a 2013 Communications
Viewpoint2 raised issues for the CS
community more broadly. In the broader
context of science and engineering,
efforts to improve postdoctoral experience are discussed by Davis. 1
Historically, postdocs have been “in-
visible”: they work closely with their fac-
ulty advisers and that adviser’s group,
but have had little standing in the de-
partment or university. In essence they
have not been “first-class citizens.”
This situation warrants investigating
the best ways to support the career and
contribution of postdocs. Concerns
to address include the quality of train-
ing the postdoc receives, the quality of
mentoring, the development of new
skills, and the participation of postdocs
in the community—both in their uni-
versity department community and in
the research community.
To address these concerns and learn
more about the postdoc experience,
CCC created a program, with NSF’s
financial backing, to develop, implement, and institutionalize best practices for supporting postdocs in CS.
Competitive awards were made in 2014
to three groups that by design are quite
different from one another: a consortium of New York universities (
Columbia University, New York University,
Viewpoint
Ask Not What Your
Postdoc Can Do for You …
Seeking more effective strategies for training
and nurturing CS postdocs to ensure their success.
DOI: 10.1145/3163918