A postdoctoral fellowship is terrific opportunity to expand your dissertation research in novel directions or to start a new line of research. In order to get a postdoc, however, you typically need to lay the groundwork at least a year in advance. In other words you need to take the time to investigate the opportunities that are available and discuss potential projects with those that you would be interested in working with. You also need to find out the application deadlines. This page lists many potential sources of postdoctoral support but do not limit your search to this page! If you have comments or if you have found another source of support that is not included on this page, please email Anne Stone at acstone@asu.edu. Individual postings of available postdoctoral positions are also welcome.
 | Individual Awards (within the United States) |
The National Institutes of Health National Research Service Award (NRSA)
Burrows Wellcome Fund postdoctoral fellowships
(you must be an American or Canadian citizen, this can also take you overseas)
The Wenner-Gren Foundation Richard Carley Hunt Postdoctoral Fellowship
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) sponsors fellowships at several national and international locations.
The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation supports academic postdocs as well as a postdoc careers program (for opportunities outside of academia) in the humanities.
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University awards about 40 fully funded fellowships each year. Radcliffe Institute fellowships are designed to support scholars, scientists, artists, and writers of exceptional promise and demonstrated accomplishment who wish to pursue work in academic and professional fields and in the creative arts. The application deadline for a 2012-2013 fellowships are October 3 and November 15.
HUD Urban Scholars Postdoctoral Fellowship Program: In coming years, understanding the economic and social dynamics of America will become even more important as demographic and economic changes bring new challenges to metropolitan areas. On behalf of HUD, the National Research Council (NRC) will award approximately ten $55,000 fellowships to encourage recent Ph.D. recipients in academic positions to undertake research now and throughout their careers on topics of interest to HUD.
| Individual Awards to Minorities |
NSF minority postdoctoral research fellowships (deadline is October 17, 2011)
The Ford Foundation is sponsoring approximately 25 postdoctoral awards which are administered by the National Research Council to the National Academies.
The American Association of University Women Educational Foundation (AAUW) supports postdoctoral research fellowships (one year).
| Individual Awards (International) |
EURIAS (European Institutes for Advanced Study) fellowships (deadline for 2012-2013 is May 31, 2011)
Research Council of Canada fellowships (you must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident)
Human Frontier Science Program fellowships
Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) administers the Fulbright Scholar program.
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation fellowships (up to one year in Germany)
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for postdoctoral research in Germany lasting for one to six months.
National Institute of Heath and Medical Research (INSERM) in France. Supports candidates of any nationality for postdoctoral research in all fields of biomedical research (fundamental, cognative, applied, clinical) and health research.
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) sponsors fellowships at several national and international locations.
The John E. Fogarty International Center fellowships
The Social Science Research Council fellowship opportunities
The Population Council has fellowship opportunities
International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX)
American Council of Learned Societies fellowships (up to one year of research on the societies and cultures of Asia, Latin America, the Carribean and Sub-Saharan Africa)
The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies research fellowships
The Japan Foundation Fellowship Program (up to one year of research in Japan)
The Lady Davis Fellowship Trust provides scholars of various disciplines with the opportunity to study, perform research, or teach at the Hebrew University or the Technion in Israel.
The Golda Meir Fellowship fund of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem awards 12 month postdoctoral fellowships to researchers in the humanities, social sciences, natural and applied sciences, agriculture and medicine. Information can be obtained from P. O. Box 1255, Jerusalem 91904, Israel or by phoning (NY) 212) 472-2288 or by fax (Israel) 9722 322 545. The deadline is November 13.
The Evans Fellowship at Cambridge University ( for ethnologists or archaeologists interested in SE Asia)
The Royal Society supports postdoctoral fellowships including the Dorothy Hodgkin fellowships.
The American Association of University Women Educational Foundation (AAUW) supports international fellowships to support full-time study or research in the US for one year for women who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
| Postdoctoral Opportunities at a Specific Institution (US) |
The Center for Archaeological Investigations at the University of Southern Illinois, Carbondale
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) training opportunities
J. Paul Getty Trust funds both residential and nonresidential postdoctoral fellowships.
Los Alamos National Laboratories Postdoctoral Fellowships
The National Humanities Center Fellowships
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) fellowships
(also see the NIH postdoc experience: A view from Bethesda article from HMS Beagle)
The National Research Council of the National Academies sponsors postdoctoral awards at many different federal laboratories through its research associateship programs. There are four annual deadlines for application (Feb. 1, May 1, Aug. 1, and Nov. 1).
NSF Research Training Group (RTG) programs (at various universities)
Evolutionary, Functional and Computational Genomics at the University of Arizona.
Population Studies Center fellowships at the University of Michigan
The Smithsonian Institution fellowships
The Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research
Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command Central Identification Laboratory
The Society for the Humanities at Cornell University postdoctoral fellowships. They have several fellowships with different areas of interest.
Postdoctoral training program in the demography of aging at the Pennsylvania State University
The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) Omidyar postdoctoral fellowships (next deadline November 2011)
| Postdoctoral Opportunities at a Specific Institution (International) |
The American Schools of Oriental Research
The School of American Research Resident Scholars
Pasteur Foundation postdoctoral fellowship program (for US citizens). For other postdoctoral opportunities at the Pasteur Institute, see http://www.pasteur.fr/ip/easysite/go/03b-00002b-0ee/institut-pasteur/job-posting-and-tenders (deadline in 2012 is March 16)
The Royal Anthropological Institute Fellowships. These include the Royal Anthropological Institute and Anthropologists’ Fund for Urgent Anthropological Research (AFUAR) and the Leach/RAI Fellowship.
The University of Western Australia University Postdoctoral Research Fellowships
The Calgary Institute for the Humanities (CIH) at the University of Calgary, Canada
The Kreitman Foundation Fellowships are for study and research at the Faculties of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev at the main campus in Beer-Sheva or at the Blaustein Desert Research Institute and the Ben-Gurion Research Center in Sede-Boker, Israel
| The following do not have fellowship information on their website but regularly have postdoctoral positions available. You should contact the person you are interested in working with. |
The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History
The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
The Department of biological anthropology and anatomy at Duke University
Texas Biomedical Research Institute (formerly the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (job opportunities)
| Other Sources of Information about Postdoctoral Opportunities |
Science, Math and Engineering Career Resources page on postdocs (includes articles about being a postdoc)
Postdocs Working for Respect: special section about postdocs in the September 3, 1999 issue of Science
Primate-Jobs from the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center
See the physical anthropology job postings (http://physanth.org/job-postings).
The career center at the American Anthropological Association
Science's Next Wave: a web site put together by The American Association for the Avancement of Science with information about finding jobs and postdocs. It also includes a Career Development Center for Postdocs and Junior Faculty.
Nature's International Science Jobs
Anthropology career information at Rasmussen College
| Books that might be helpful
Reis, RM (1997) Tomorrow’s Professor: Preparing for Academic Careers in Science and Engineering. IEEE Press. Information about this book Feibelman, PJ (1993) A PhD is Not Enough. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Fisk, PS (1996) To Boldly Go: a Practical Career Guide for Scientists. Washington D.C.: American Geophysical Union. Information about this book Sinderman, CJ (1987) Survival Strategies for New Scientists. New York: Plenum.
Cohen, CM and Cohen, SL (2005) Lab Dynamics: Management Skills for Scientists. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. Medawar, PB (1979) Advice to a Young Scientist. New York: Basic Books. Beveridge, WIB (1957) The Art of Scientific Investigation. New York: Vintage. Oliver, JE (1991) The Incomplete Guide to the Art of Discovery. New York: Columbia University Press.
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| Link to the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at ASU. |
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