NIDDK Ranks Seventh Among Postdocs in ‘Top Places to Work’ Survey

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) ranked seventh among the top places for postdocs to work in North America, according to a survey published in the March issue of The Scientist. The Institute climbed the list from last year, when it ranked 15th.

Comments submitted with this year’s survey indicated that postdocs want knowledgeable, engaged mentors and principal investigators, clearly defined goals and feedback, career development training, adequate pay and benefits, and job security. The NIDDK’s proximity to the nation’s capital—and the potential career opportunities that presents—is a definite advantage, according to The Scientist.

The top-ranking postdoc choice in North America this year is the J. David Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco. Survey respondents chose the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in Basel, Switzerland, as the top employer outside North America.

Respondents identified themselves as nontenured life scientists working in academia or other noncommercial research centers. More than 2,900 scientists from the United States, Canada, and Western Europe responded to the web-based questionnaire.

NIH Publication No. 07–5743
November 2006