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Table 32. Postdoctoral appointees in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by detailed field: 2007–13
Field 2007a 2008 2009 2010b, c 2011c 2012 2013
All surveyed fields 50,840 54,164 57,805 63,439 62,639 62,851 61,942
   Science and engineering 36,223 38,203 40,804 44,320 44,121 43,841 43,395
      Science 31,281 32,741 34,388 37,351 37,335 36,738 36,289
         Agricultural sciences 985 1,147 1,083 1,190 1,256 1,290 1,319
         Biological sciences 19,109 19,827 20,159 21,726 21,107 20,086 19,330
            Anatomy 341 350 371 413 374 287 258
            Biochemistry 2,305 2,314 2,351 2,523 2,314 2,232 2,097
            Biology 2,341 2,506 2,430 2,533 2,341 2,268 2,141
            Biometry and epidemiology 349 330 395 566 523 536 638
            Biophysics 186 165 180 263 194 185 164
            Botany 610 625 640 559 561 596 614
            Cell biology 2,429 2,382 2,638 2,780 2,653 2,574 2,387
            Ecology 200 221 233 216 200 205 107
            Entomology and parasitology 246 222 248 233 261 266 258
            Genetics 940 989 1,054 1,348 1,460 1,407 1,394
            Microbiology, immunology, and virology 2,258 2,204 2,265 2,566 2,574 2,437 2,188
            Nutrition 298 243 214 245 247 224 214
            Pathology 1,576 1,791 1,791 1,811 1,673 1,582 1,505
            Pharmacology 1,349 1,411 1,523 1,652 1,554 1,383 1,284
            Physiology 1,319 1,329 1,427 1,461 1,527 1,399 1,412
            Zoology 101 68 78 76 85 87 94
            Biological sciences nec 2,261 2,677 2,321 2,481 2,566 2,418 2,575
         Communication 30 32 38 62 67 58 76
         Computer sciences 456 493 594 763 759 760 765
         Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 1,250 1,339 1,424 1,740 1,774 1,956 2,032
            Atmospheric sciences 119 116 124 189 167 209 209
            Geosciences 515 540 536 601 578 637 730
            Oceanography 337 330 410 332 408 446 423
            Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 279 353 354 618 621 664 670
         Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 8 19 22 30 52 58 90
         Mathematical sciences 624 723 737 791 830 902 932
            Mathematics and applied mathematics 571 643 675 715 733 782 787
            Statistics 53 80 62 76 97 120 145
         Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 244 348 459 785 704 742 891
         Neuroscience 285 343 645 838 1,398 1,525 1,696
         Physical sciences 6,719 6,885 7,447 7,583 7,490 7,430 7,197
            Astronomy 401 432 507 532 524 509 407
            Chemistry 3,952 3,943 4,219 4,179 4,005 4,016 3,850
            Physics 2,206 2,327 2,517 2,608 2,694 2,651 2,682
            Physical sciences nec 160 183 204 264 267 254 258
         Psychologyb 1,088 1,077 1,219 1,132 1,124 1,132 1,023
            Clinical psychology 72 65 130 135 94 104 104
            Psychology, general 686 732 755 664 639 613 568
            Psychology nec 330 280 334 333 391 415 351
         Social sciences 483 508 561 711 774 799 938
            Agricultural economics 44 45 43 44 47 60 61
            Anthropology (cultural and social) 80 88 77 86 82 96 118
            Economics (except agricultural) 37 35 65 60 38 50 62
            Geography 40 40 58 62 58 69 89
            History and philosophy of science 9 9 9 17 9 14 14
            Linguistics 20 21 14 27 31 31 33
            Political science 44 55 77 93 220 176 239
            Sociology 53 42 59 83 91 97 93
            Sociology and anthropology 1 2 3 0 2 2 3
            Social sciences nec 155 171 156 239 196 204 226
      Engineering 4,942 5,462 6,416 6,969 6,786 7,103 7,106
         Aerospace engineering 178 154 168 212 202 170 202
         Agricultural engineering 139 135 110 119 129 133 152
         Architecture 5 11 22 10 16 6 17
         Biomedical engineering 640 710 960 1,023 1,069 1,161 1,103
         Chemical engineering 790 880 1,084 1,077 1,137 1,098 1,230
         Civil engineering 417 465 535 571 551 590 587
         Electrical engineering 884 987 1,025 1,095 1,035 1,152 1,180
         Engineering science 183 214 226 236 281 292 240
         Industrial engineering 71 115 109 151 121 127 133
         Mechanical engineering 722 784 948 1,021 889 985 1,034
         Metallurgical and materials engineering 564 605 758 841 860 854 809
         Mining engineering 5 5 4 4 4 5 7
         Nuclear engineering 73 85 90 107 111 120 105
         Petroleum engineering 22 28 36 44 35 53 49
         Engineering nec 249 284 341 458 346 357 258
   Healthb 14,617 15,961 17,001 19,119 18,518 19,010 18,547
      Clinical medicine 12,472 13,837 14,601 16,515 16,165 16,361 15,831
         Anesthesiology 334 395 435 497 407 436 439
         Cardiology 432 515 532 624 687 787 777
         Endocrinology 313 334 475 456 439 473 441
         Gastroenterology 245 236 269 303 343 319 317
         Hematology 293 344 429 347 364 367 348
         Neurology 1,304 1,363 1,418 1,305 1,029 952 941
         Obstetrics and gynecology 182 228 279 349 324 307 301
         Oncology and cancer research 1,508 1,571 1,681 1,919 1,867 1,923 1,859
         Ophthalmology 371 466 462 466 461 518 528
         Otorhinolaryngology 125 137 137 142 158 144 160
         Pediatrics 901 985 1,003 1,311 1,441 1,583 1,584
         Preventive medicine and community health 351 379 395 630 654 730 703
         Psychiatry 791 888 918 959 979 1,089 1,008
         Pulmonary disease 198 237 251 285 294 279 288
         Radiology 841 845 977 1,032 987 979 921
         Surgery 1,209 1,249 1,342 1,267 1,241 1,373 1,297
         Clinical medicine nec 3,074 3,665 3,598 4,623 4,490 4,102 3,919
      Other healthb 2,145 2,124 2,400 2,604 2,353 2,649 2,716
         Dental sciences 272 270 291 353 346 343 303
         Nursing 65 92 70 55 79 76 77
         Pharmaceutical sciences 798 809 977 1,070 1,009 982 995
         Speech pathology and audiology 84 59 58 55 48 59 49
         Veterinary sciences 498 486 470 468 450 534 564
         Other health nec 428 408 534 603 421 655 728

nec = not elsewhere classified.
a In 2007, eligible fields were reclassified, newly eligible fields were added, and the survey was redesigned to improve coverage and coding of eligible units. 2007 data presented in this table are the data collected in 2007, which were labeled as "2007new" in the past publications. See appendix A in http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf10307/ for more detail on the changes made in 2007.
b In 2010, the postdoc section of the survey was expanded, and significant effort was made to ensure that appropriate personnel were providing postdoc data (see appendix A for more information). Thus, it is unclear how much of the increases in 2010 and later years over 2009 and prior years are from growth in postdoctoral appointments and how much are from improved data collection. More information on the changes to the postdoc data collection is available at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf13334/.
c Postdoc data from 2010 and 2011 were reimputed following the 2012 data collection; these data supersede those contained in previous reports.
NOTE: "Field" refers to the field of the unit that reports postdocs to the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, NSF-NIH Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.
Data from survey cycle Fall 2013, as of 8 August 2014.
r.1221 20150403 (internal editing revision number, will not be published)