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Table 39. Postdoctoral appointees in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by detailed field and primary source of support: 2015

Field Total Federal Nonfederal Self-support Unknown
Total DOD DOE HHS-NIH HHS-Other NASA NSF USDA Other Total Institutional Domestic Foreign
All surveyed fields 63,861 33,284 2,321 1,999 19,720 856 647 4,130 787 2,824 25,530 13,173 10,240 2,117 867 4,180
Science and engineering 45,295 24,579 2,071 1,966 12,298 540 627 4,067 738 2,272 17,557 8,997 7,059 1,501 430 2,729
Science 37,639 20,837 1,181 1,346 11,520 486 551 3,261 687 1,805 14,253 7,481 5,642 1,130 365 2,184
Agricultural sciences 1,525 729 21 42 36 11 11 141 318 149 681 369 297 15 30 85
Biological sciences 19,304 11,304 327 131 8,583 312 37 874 291 749 6,735 3,351 2,927 457 151 1,114
Anatomy 202 125 14 0 90 8 0 8 0 5 67 44 20 3 3 7
Biochemistry 1,874 1,143 45 28 835 55 3 62 12 103 641 374 240 27 2 88
Biology 2,131 1,142 44 30 616 49 11 303 26 63 878 530 254 94 9 102
Biometry and epidemiology 649 387 10 0 336 9 0 15 1 16 156 71 75 10 3 103
Biophysics 144 88 2 3 70 0 0 3 1 9 46 20 24 2 0 10
Botany and plant biology 640 335 5 40 19 2 3 136 101 29 249 124 114 11 17 39
Cell and molecular biology 2,380 1,282 28 5 1,080 45 1 40 7 76 959 322 556 81 4 135
Ecology 137 69 1 3 17 4 3 23 8 10 52 33 19 0 0 16
Entomology and parasitology 289 173 5 0 41 5 0 29 75 18 99 59 35 5 9 8
Genetics 1,410 792 14 2 559 48 3 44 6 116 526 257 244 25 0 92
Microbiology, immunology, and virology 2,206 1,371 28 5 1,149 22 5 37 12 113 674 278 357 39 25 136
Nutrition 250 112 1 0 67 12 0 3 23 6 105 74 30 1 0 33
Pathology 1,407 765 29 0 701 18 0 2 1 14 570 301 211 58 34 38
Pharmacology and toxicology 1,253 782 11 3 722 3 1 3 1 38 376 193 150 33 5 90
Physiology 1,350 870 24 0 791 10 0 12 1 32 420 218 185 17 4 56
Zoology 51 29 0 1 8 1 0 16 3 0 17 15 2 0 2 3
Biosciences nec 2,931 1,839 66 11 1,482 21 7 138 13 101 900 438 411 51 34 158
Communication 83 33 2 0 18 7 0 6 0 0 44 19 17 8 0 6
Computer sciences 888 497 134 20 50 1 4 237 2 49 334 152 146 36 5 52
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 2,129 1,191 98 86 100 3 197 466 24 217 826 387 288 151 31 81
Atmospheric sciences 180 122 10 11 0 0 34 32 1 34 56 24 9 23 0 2
Geosciences 744 377 9 35 3 0 84 209 11 26 299 166 94 39 18 50
Ocean sciences 457 234 11 4 7 1 22 130 2 57 192 100 84 8 10 21
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 748 458 68 36 90 2 57 95 10 100 279 97 101 81 3 8
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 103 40 0 0 17 6 1 3 7 6 51 31 19 1 5 7
Mathematics and statistics 1,011 345 50 15 52 2 4 203 2 17 578 474 83 21 18 70
Mathematics and applied mathematics 873 264 42 12 25 0 4 167 1 13 523 436 67 20 18 68
Statistics 138 81 8 3 27 2 0 36 1 4 55 38 16 1 0 2
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 972 546 57 65 254 28 7 80 6 49 349 196 141 12 24 53
Neurobiology and neuroscience 1,957 1,125 26 0 972 18 1 37 0 71 689 247 385 57 7 136
Physical sciences 7,358 4,058 413 979 915 70 270 1,028 14 369 2,857 1,549 1,019 289 52 391
Astronomy and astrophysics 418 253 9 16 7 0 121 70 0 30 130 86 36 8 4 31
Chemistry 3,840 1,983 196 312 812 57 15 460 7 124 1,621 764 650 207 20 216
Physics 2,779 1,633 179 611 87 13 127 448 7 161 993 619 315 59 28 125
Physical sciences nec 321 189 29 40 9 0 7 50 0 54 113 80 18 15 0 19
Psychology 1,130 671 35 0 451 17 0 88 0 80 402 240 123 39 13 44
Clinical psychology 93 54 2 0 49 1 0 0 0 2 31 23 6 2 8 0
Psychology, general 634 385 18 0 251 14 0 57 0 45 219 138 68 13 4 26
Psychology nec 403 232 15 0 151 2 0 31 0 33 152 79 49 24 1 18
Social sciences 1,179 298 18 8 72 11 19 98 23 49 707 466 197 44 29 145
Agricultural economics 61 27 0 3 0 1 0 5 12 6 32 21 10 1 1 1
Anthropology 174 46 3 0 4 1 2 31 0 5 100 72 19 9 10 18
Economics (except agricultural) 95 9 0 0 2 0 0 3 1 3 68 44 22 2 2 16
Geography 96 57 2 2 3 0 12 22 5 11 33 18 11 4 1 5
History and philosophy of science 12 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 9 5 0 4 0 1
Linguistics 47 13 0 0 4 0 0 8 1 0 23 15 3 5 1 10
Political science and government 313 43 7 1 11 4 0 6 1 13 220 140 69 11 7 43
Sociology 104 36 0 0 21 1 0 7 2 5 56 39 16 1 0 12
Sociology and anthropology 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0
Social sciences nec 275 65 6 2 27 4 5 14 1 6 164 110 47 7 7 39
Engineering 7,656 3,742 890 620 778 54 76 806 51 467 3,304 1,516 1,417 371 65 545
Aerospace engineering 217 96 50 19 0 0 11 9 0 7 89 40 40 9 6 26
Agricultural engineering 221 99 2 21 17 3 1 14 26 15 102 57 43 2 7 13
Architecture 17 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 12 7 5 0 0 1
Biomedical engineering 1,201 671 92 3 479 10 2 45 1 39 451 225 179 47 6 73
Chemical engineering 1,283 565 95 130 109 13 7 140 8 63 614 241 275 98 8 96
Civil engineering 670 258 37 29 12 1 15 67 8 89 354 193 132 29 6 52
Electrical engineering 1,160 638 261 46 48 5 9 182 0 87 417 154 208 55 17 88
Engineering science, mechanics, and physics 251 129 46 29 16 3 6 23 1 5 114 66 37 11 0 8
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 142 55 13 4 9 0 3 16 0 10 71 39 27 5 1 15
Mechanical engineering 1,161 604 142 122 60 15 14 170 3 78 477 256 177 44 1 79
Metallurgical and materials engineering 911 420 123 131 18 3 3 104 3 35 410 149 208 53 4 77
Mining engineering 15 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 10 6 4 0 0 4
Nuclear engineering 107 76 4 53 0 0 0 8 0 11 26 7 15 4 1 4
Petroleum engineering 73 16 0 11 0 0 0 0 0 5 56 15 30 11 1 0
Engineering nec 227 110 25 22 10 1 5 26 1 20 101 61 37 3 7 9
Health 18,566 8,705 250 33 7,422 316 20 63 49 552 7,973 4,176 3,181 616 437 1,451
Clinical medicine 15,850 7,330 216 33 6,323 247 17 36 12 446 6,880 3,511 2,787 582 386 1,254
Anesthesiology 433 212 15 0 190 0 0 1 0 6 165 101 46 18 13 43
Cardiovascular science 825 438 2 0 399 12 0 1 0 24 374 216 104 54 11 2
Endocrinology 414 214 3 0 194 1 0 0 0 16 191 62 83 46 4 5
Gastroenterology 299 133 1 0 126 1 0 0 0 5 158 82 51 25 0 8
Hematology 356 159 4 0 145 3 0 0 0 7 192 80 96 16 0 5
Neurology 1,035 410 11 0 370 5 0 1 0 23 493 209 242 42 21 111
Obstetrics and gynecology 287 112 6 0 101 0 0 2 0 3 139 75 48 16 6 30
Oncology and cancer research 1,788 707 31 0 591 49 6 3 0 27 905 414 452 39 4 172
Ophthalmology 568 266 12 0 239 2 0 5 0 8 262 115 118 29 24 16
Otorhinolaryngology 169 99 5 0 89 0 1 0 0 4 68 20 43 5 0 2
Pediatrics 1,309 573 5 2 498 31 0 5 7 25 655 385 252 18 5 76
Preventive medicine and community health 704 378 7 4 283 30 2 5 3 44 204 118 70 16 7 115
Psychiatry 1,084 615 12 1 474 13 0 2 0 113 327 201 113 13 35 107
Pulmonary disease 305 181 2 0 155 6 0 0 0 18 123 75 32 16 0 1
Radiology 1,012 453 21 25 394 3 0 2 0 8 429 254 144 31 27 103
Surgery 1,267 471 24 0 417 9 2 1 0 18 622 353 194 75 47 127
Clinical medicine nec 3,995 1,909 55 1 1,658 82 6 8 2 97 1,573 751 699 123 182 331
Other health 2,716 1,375 34 0 1,099 69 3 27 37 106 1,093 665 394 34 51 197
Communication disorders sciences 77 55 3 0 43 3 0 0 0 6 20 14 4 2 1 1
Dental sciences 307 223 2 0 191 6 0 0 0 24 61 32 24 5 9 14
Nursing science 75 49 0 0 49 0 0 0 0 0 24 23 1 0 1 1
Pharmaceutical sciences 999 492 14 0 410 21 0 21 4 22 395 236 144 15 24 88
Veterinary sciences 541 201 5 0 115 22 0 5 33 21 252 194 54 4 13 75
Other health nec 717 355 10 0 291 17 3 1 0 33 341 166 167 8 3 18
nec = not elsewhere classified.
DOD = Department of Defense, DOE = Department of Energy, HHS = Department of Health and Human Services, NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration, nec = not elsewhere classified, NIH = National Institutes of Health, NSF = National Science Foundation, USDA = Department of Agriculture.
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, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, 2015.