Postdoctoral Rules & Guidelines

Postdoctoral Fellows chosen for the NASA Jack Eddy Postdoctoral Fellowship program are full-time UCAR employees under the Cooperative Programs for the Advancement of Earth System Science (CPAESS), and must comply with all UCAR policies and procedures. They are full-time benefit eligible employees.

If not a U.S. citizen, all Postdoctoral Fellows must be able to provide documentation of their eligibility to work in the U.S. prior to beginning employment.  Although it is the responsibility of the Fellow, UCAR can provide assistance in securing visas, and should be contacted as soon as the offer of employment is made. Please reach out to Kate Rodd at krodd@ucar.edu with any questions regarding these procedures.

Hosts are expected to provide postdocs with a suitable office space, computer, internet access, and basic office administrative support during their appointment, as well as any other unique research costs associated with the fellowship.

An annual and final report is required from each Postdoctoral Fellow.  Host reports are required at the end of the fellowship.

Guidelines for travel and relocation for postdoctoral fellows

In order to be covered under UCAR travel insurance, all business and relocation travel must be authorized by CPAESS who will prepare the proper documentation required under UCAR travel policies and procedures. This also includes travel that is being funded by another institution. Travel that is not authorized is not eligible for travel insurance or reimbursement.

Relocation travel costs for postdoctoral fellows and their dependents who live at least 50 miles from their host institution are paid in accordance with UCAR travel policy. If your current residence is more than 50 miles from your host institution, UCAR will reimburse your relocation costs up to $3,500.00. Please be advised that under Internal Revenue Service regulations all relocation allowance payments are taxed as supplemental income, subject to tax withholding and reporting on your W-2 form. 

Scientific Travel and Publication Allowance

Postdoctoral fellows receive a $8,000 scientific travel and publication allowance annually.  Unused portions of the allowance may be carried over to the second year of the appointment.  Under special pre-defined circumstances, allowances may be used for other than travel expenses and also may be used at the completion of the fellowship.  However, these are exceptions and MUST be discussed with CPAESS well in advance of the end of the appointment.  Except in rare instances, hardware is not an allowable expense.

UCAR allows flexibility during the fellowship term for family and parental leave. Talk to our office about your specific situation and we will work with you.

Proposal Submissions

Because of the short-term nature of Postdoctoral Fellowship appointments, postdocs are generally not eligible to be a Principal Investigator (PI) on a proposal unless a specific sponsor announcement requires that a postdoc serve as the PI  (e.g. NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship), the work is specific to that postdoc, or the project would be finalized within the timeframe of their current UCAR employment. Postdocs may be allowed to serve as PIs with the stipulation that a senior UCAR staff member (Hanne Mauriello, Director of CPAESS) be designated as Co-PI. For these situations, postdocs should contact Cindy Bruyère (bruyerec@ucar.edu), Kate Rodd (krodd@ucar.edu), or Julie Cross (jcross@ucar.edu), before making this type of commitment. Please check with Cindy, Kate, or Julie before requesting to be affiliated with UCAR in the NASA NSPIRES, NSF Research.gov systems, or any other system.