Salary Guidelines

Postdoctoral Fellows

(updated 03/18/2024)

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 were used as a baseline for setting salaries for other annual appointees.

The Harvard Chan School voted to raise the minimum annual postdoctoral fellow salary to $55k in November 2019, which officially went into effect for FY2021. Following this decision, all future postdoctoral salaries at the Harvard Chan School will be adjusted to coincide with the annual salary increase guidelines. 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.

HARVARD CHAN SCHOOL POSTDOCTORAL SALARY/STIPEND LEVELS FOR FY2025 (effective July 1, 2024)

Career Level Years of Experience Stipend for FY 2025 Monthly Stipend
Postdoctoral 0 $65,000 $5,417
1 $65,419 $5,452
2 $65,852 $5,488
3 $68,223 $5,685
4 $70,294 $5,858
5 $72,665 $6,055

NOTE: Postdoctoral Fellows that have reached 5 or more years can no longer be considered trainees and must moved to Research Associate or another appropriate appointment.

For more information and the current (FY24) NIH guidelines, please visit the NIH/NRSA website.