Funding Rates and Guidelines

Stanford is committed to supporting its postdoctoral scholars who comprise a vital part of the Stanford community. Each year, the Provost’s Advisory Committee on Postdoctoral Affairs convenes to recommend the postdoctoral minimum salary for the following academic year. Postdocs are represented on this committee by the SURPAS co-chairs, who are non-voting members. The increase in salary has met or exceeded the December 12-month Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the bay area each year since 2016.

FY25 Minimum Annual Funding Rates

By months of research experience (at Stanford or other institution) at 09/01/24 increase

How to Determine the FY25 Minimum Funding Amount for Incoming Postdocs

(For illustration purposes only:  FY26, FY27, FY28 minimums will differ from the FY25 amounts used in the examples below)

How to Determine the FY25 Minimum Funding Amount for Current Postdocs

• See Job Aid: Change Form for details

Important Funding Guidelines

• Minimum funding levels are published annually in Spring quarter.
• Departments may establish their own guidelines as long as funding rates meet or exceed those established by the University.
• Departments must review postdoc salaries/stipends on an annual basis to ensure that postdocs are funded at the minimum rate (or higher) on September 1st of each year.
• For budgeting purposes, estimate a 4.5% annual increase from the current minimum funding level, but remember that increases to the minimum are never guaranteed.
• Funding paid in foreign currency must meet or exceed the minimum in USD, regardless of currency exchange rate, or be supplemented by funds from the appointing department.
• Funding levels are auto-calculated on the Recommendation web form.
• Clinical fellows at the SoM must be funded at the PGY level established by GME at Stanford Hospitals & Clinics. For more information on pay levels contact GME.

Historical Minimum Annual Funding Rates by Year

• NRSA support is limited to three years for postdocs. NIH provides eight levels of postdoc stipend for those with other forms of health-related training prior to accepting a Kirschstein-NRSA supported position. (The presence of eight discrete levels of experience, however, does not constitute an endorsement of extended periods of postdoc research training.) Stanford sets a five year cap on the postdoc training period (including time at Stanford and at other institutions).
• For information on pay levels for Stanford Hospital house staff, contact the Stanford Hospital GME Office.
• When determining funding levels for MDs, the years of concentrated research listed on the CV may be used; internships and residencies do not count as research years.
• If you have a need to look up NIH funding levels, which are typically lower than the Stanford minimums, you can do so here: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-23-076.html

• On February 7, 2020, NIH issued its FY 2020 Fiscal Policy for Grant Awards. According to the notice, all FY 2020 awards issued using FY 2019 stipend levels will be revised to increase the stipend category to the FY 2020 level. Effective with NRSA awards made on or after October 1, 2019, the above annual stipend levels apply to all individuals receiving support through institutional research training grants or individual fellowships, including the Minority Access to Research Career (MARC) and Career Opportunities in Research (COR) programs. For details, see https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-20-070.html. Contact your Departmental Grant Administrator or the Research Process Manager in the Research Management Group at the SoM with questions.