Salary and Extra Compensation

(revised 2/8/2024)

Salaries for First Appointment

In 2009, the School formally adopted the NIH/NRSA stipend guidelines as the minimum salary for Harvard Chan School postdoctoral research fellows. These guidelines are based on years of postdoctoral experience, and are also used as a baseline for setting salaries for other annual appointees.

In January 2024, the Harvard Chan School voted to raise the minimum annual postdoctoral fellow salary to $65k, which will officially go into effect on July 1, 2024. Following this decision, all future School salary guidelines will be adjusted annually to coincide with changes to the most recent NIH/NRSA stipend guidelines and can be found on the NIH/NRSA salary guideline webpage. Departments have the discretion to set the minimum at or above this threshold. In order to offer competitive salaries, departments and PIs are encouraged to pay postdocs and other researchers as generously as they are able, while being mindful of equity within their groups and more broadly.

In order to offer competitive salaries, departments and PIs are encouraged to pay postdocs and other researchers as generously as they are able, beyond the NIH guidelines, while being mindful of equity within their groups and more broadly.

All new appointees will receive an offer letter from OFA that states their annual salary; the offer letter must be signed and returned by the appointee before their appointment is approved.

Salary Increases

Salary increases occur annually, on July 1.  Salaries for postdoctoral research fellows must be adjusted annually to minimally meet the NIH guideline levels for their years of postdoctoral experience.

Extra Compensation

Extra compensation is defined as an unusual, nonrecurring, and extraordinary payment for Harvard work that falls entirely beyond the normal, regular job assignment. Extra compensation should not be used as a regular supplement to an individual’s salary nor as a means to pay overtime. Repeated requests for extra compensation for the same activity may be denied. All requests for extra compensation must be approved by Faculty Affairs. If a department wishes to provide a bonus to an appointee, we ask that you provide some information in your request that includes, but not be limited to, the notable achievements demonstrating exceptional performance, the connection between the bonus and success in specific research projects, purpose of the bonus in supporting academic growth and how the bonus motivates and contributes to retaining talent.