New Issue of the POSTDOCket Now Available The 2008 Spring issue of the NPA POSTDOCket is now available. Click here to view the new issue. NPA 2007 Annual Report Now Available The NPA 2007 Annual Report is now available. Click here to view the report. Paid Internship Opportunities for Postdoctoral and Junior Faculty The Center for HIV/AIDS Minority Pipeline in Substance Abuse (CHAMPS) provides 4-6 month, intensive internship opportunities for underrepresented scholars who will become the next generation of prevention scientists with expertise in HIV, substance use and co-occurring conditions. The NIH-funded CHAMPS program will prepare underrepresented minority postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty with career development training, as well as improved skills in manuscript writing, grantsmanship, presentation skills and methodologies deemed to be important for designing and conducting studies on the prevention of HIV, substance abuse and related comorbidities. Travel and "seed" grants are available to further critical professional experience. For more information, please visit: http://ihccm.ucsd.edu/.

Feedback Wanted on New NPA Resource
The NPA Policy Committee has prepared a draft version of new NPA resource, "Postdoctoral Core Competencies." This draft document will be presented for discussion during a plenary session at the NPA Annual Meeting later this week. For those of you who cannot attend but wish to provide feedback, we have posted a draft of this document on our website and provided a survey response form. Please visit the Core Competencies Intro to review the document and provide your feedback by May 5, 2008. Thank you.

NPA Launches Effort to Address Postdoc Stipends in Congress
For the first time, the NPA is launching an effort to increase postdoctoral stipends through the federal budget process. More specifically, the NPA is calling on Congress to increase the appropriation for NRSA postdoctoral stipends by ten percent over FY2008 levels.
Please click here for instructions on how you can help in this effort.
Please click here to view additional background information on this topic.

NPA Job Board Powered by Science Careers
Looking for a fellowship, scholarship, postdoctoral appointment or other career opportunity? Check out the NPA Job Board, powered by ScienceCareers. This search tool is now available at http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/job_board.

SRS Postdoc Participation of Science, Engineering and Health Doctorate Recipients
This month, the National Science Foundation released an InfoBrief on its 2006 Survey on Doctorate Recipents. Primary findings show that number of individuals taking a postdoc increased from 41% to 45% in 1995. It also incudes interesting data, such as postdoc benefits and employment sectors of former postdocs. Read more at SRS Postdoc Participation of Science, Engineering and Health Doctorate Recipients.

New NPA Postdoc Office Toolkit Article: Providing Benefits for Postdocs
A new article, Providing Benefits for Postdocs, has been added to the NPA Postdoc Office Toolkit. This article provides an informative background as well as strategies for PDOs in offering benefits for postdocs. Read more...

NPA Annual Meeting Registration Now Open
Registration for the NPA Annual Meeting is now open. We are currently experiencing technical difficulties with our online registration system. We hope to have the issue resolved soon. We apologize for the inconvenience. If you wish to register now, we have provided links to PDF versions of the registration forms. Visit the online registration page for registration fees and forms.

NPA Resources Update
The NPA has a variety of new and updated resources available online on its website. The available resources include a new guide on tax issues for postdocs, an updated visa guide for international postdocs, and a new toolkit on training postdocs in the responsible conduct of research (RCR).

NIH Freezes Postdoc Stipend Levels
The NIH announced this week that NRSA stipend levels for postdoctoral fellows and trainees in FY2008 would be held at FY2007 levels. This decision continues a pattern that began in 2007, when stipends were held at FY2006 levels. This trend falls far short of the NIH's pledge to increase stipend amounts by 10-12 percent per year during the earlier part of this decade, and to ensure that stipends would keep pace with inflation thereafter (see text of NIH pledge from 2001 below). The NPA is disappointed with the NIH's decision to freeze postdoctoral stipends for two successive years, and intends to communicate its concerns to the NIH leadership. Because so many institutions base their postdoctoral salaries on the NRSA stipend scale, this decision will have far-reaching implications for many more postdocs than just the fellows and trainees supported on NRSAs. Read more...

NPA Annual Meeting Updates
A series of professional development workshops have been added to the 2008 NPA Annual Meeting Agenda. Click here to view the list of workshops.

The NPA Now Has a Presence on Facebook!
Facebook, the leading social networking site for academics, now has an NPA presence, with the National Postdoctoral Association group page. Facebook is a great way to connect with other NPA members online in addition to the NPA webpage and listservs. If you're already a facebook member, you can find us at http://utk.facebook.com/group.php?gid=27481320384.

New NPA Resource
The NPA Speakers Bureau serves as a growing database of speakers on a topics and issues relating to postdocs. If you have a speaker that you would like to recommend, please complete the nomination form at www.nationalpostdoc.org/speakers_bureau.

Get a New Position in the New Year with the NPA Job Board
Looking for a fellowship, postdoctoral appointment or other career opportunity? Why not use the NPA Job Board, powered by ScienceCareers, to find it. Visit the NPA Job Board.