Back to Data Tables
Download to excel

NCSES GSS 2012 GSS2012 39 SAS Output Newer information icon. Newer information is available.
Table 39. Postdoctoral appointees in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by detailed field and primary source of support: 2012

  Federal Nonfederal
Field Total Total DOD DOE HHS-
NIH		 HHS-
Other		 NASA NSF USDA Other Total Institutional Domestic Foreign Self-
support		 Unknown
All surveyed fields 62,851 35,794 2,414 2,001 21,535 1,041 612 4,324 677 3,190 22,088 11,700 8,592 1,796 447 4,522
    Science and engineering 43,841 25,678 2,110 1,979 12,833 701 588 4,251 641 2,575 14,430 7,366 5,825 1,239 275 3,458
        Science 36,738 21,824 1,234 1,272 11,990 619 506 3,523 588 2,092 11,936 6,317 4,704 915 211 2,767
            Agricultural sciences 1,290 623 15 35 34 19 8 127 248 137 578 298 263 17 22 67
            Biological sciences 20,086 12,475 351 148 9,333 356 26 921 272 1,068 6,212 3,092 2,697 423 69 1,330
                Anatomy 287 200 9 0 179 3 0 4 0 5 79 39 31 9 2 6
                Biochemistry 2,232 1,448 37 29 1,071 71 1 75 9 155 666 340 283 43 5 113
                Biology 2,268 1,263 34 28 772 24 5 303 28 69 886 483 298 105 2 117
                Biometry and epidemiology 536 382 13 1 330 14 0 7 0 17 136 87 36 13 5 13
                Biophysics 185 107 2 1 90 0 0 3 0 11 57 23 33 1 5 16
                Botany 596 290 4 35 18 7 8 124 71 23 192 117 72 3 11 103
                Cell biology 2,574 1,349 32 5 1,064 37 3 62 8 138 865 292 519 54 1 359
                Ecology 205 126 0 2 34 1 2 68 8 11 65 47 16 2 0 14
                Entomology and parasitology 266 156 1 0 30 9 0 17 79 20 86 48 33 5 4 20
                Genetics 1,407 862 22 4 555 49 0 38 9 185 471 201 249 21 0 74
                Microbiology, immunology, and virology 2,437 1,631 39 17 1,300 52 0 51 10 162 721 293 357 71 2 83
                Nutrition 224 131 1 0 75 11 0 3 33 8 78 54 24 0 0 15
                Pathology 1,582 981 28 0 923 10 0 1 1 18 518 299 185 34 12 71
                Pharmacology 1,383 955 36 6 801 28 1 11 2 70 368 198 153 17 1 59
                Physiology 1,399 943 32 1 814 21 0 24 2 49 375 170 181 24 1 80
                Zoology 87 57 2 3 12 1 0 21 3 15 17 12 5 0 6 7
                Biological sciences nec 2,418 1,594 59 16 1,265 18 6 109 9 112 632 389 222 21 12 180
            Communicationa 58 20 7 0 5 0 1 6 0 1 32 13 14 5 0 6
            Computer sciences 760 503 150 22 52 4 0 226 1 48 220 96 96 28 2 35
            Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 1,956 1,108 58 98 78 10 164 467 25 208 768 438 204 126 21 59
                Atmospheric sciences 209 152 5 13 1 0 31 55 2 45 55 29 20 6 0 2
                Geosciences 637 336 3 42 1 2 77 179 1 31 252 149 63 40 13 36
                Oceanography 446 301 12 10 14 7 10 162 3 83 143 87 42 14 1 1
                Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 664 319 38 33 62 1 46 71 19 49 318 173 79 66 7 20
            Family and consumer sciences and human sciencesa 58 29 0 0 16 3 0 0 3 7 25 7 18 0 4 0
            Mathematical sciences 902 395 79 15 49 9 4 224 0 15 413 339 60 14 3 91
                Mathematics and applied mathematics 782 327 70 14 22 6 3 202 0 10 378 311 55 12 3 74
                Statistics 120 68 9 1 27 3 1 22 0 5 35 28 5 2 0 17
            Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studiesa 742 425 41 48 230 6 6 65 3 26 273 172 86 15 21 23
            Neurosciencea 1,525 856 34 0 682 51 1 26 1 61 511 165 313 33 0 158
            Physical sciences 7,430 4,424 435 904 950 125 287 1,329 12 382 2,186 1,237 757 192 31 789
                Astronomy 509 299 3 20 7 0 117 125 6 21 121 75 38 8 3 86
                Chemistry 4,016 2,265 238 302 848 120 12 602 3 140 1,291 672 492 127 18 442
                Physics 2,651 1,669 181 550 82 5 149 529 3 170 725 461 207 57 10 247
                Physical sciences nec 254 191 13 32 13 0 9 73 0 51 49 29 20 0 0 14
            Psychology 1,132 748 47 1 503 32 0 67 0 98 308 190 84 34 12 64
                Clinical psychology 104 62 1 0 40 8 0 0 0 13 39 34 1 4 2 1
                Psychology, general 613 407 21 0 271 19 0 46 0 50 154 96 37 21 10 42
                Psychology nec 415 279 25 1 192 5 0 21 0 35 115 60 46 9 0 21
            Social sciences 799 218 17 1 58 4 9 65 23 41 410 270 112 28 26 145
                Agricultural economics 60 24 0 0 1 0 2 0 16 5 25 15 10 0 1 10
                Anthropology (cultural and social) 96 19 0 0 2 0 0 12 1 4 59 44 10 5 7 11
                Economics (except agricultural) 50 8 2 0 0 0 0 4 1 1 30 20 9 1 1 11
                Geography 69 41 1 0 0 1 6 21 3 9 21 13 4 4 1 6
                History and philosophy of science 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 3 2 4 4
                Linguistics 31 15 2 0 7 0 0 6 0 0 14 9 3 2 0 2
                Political science 176 38 6 0 10 1 0 6 0 15 87 54 28 5 3 48
                Sociology 97 32 0 0 24 0 0 7 0 1 52 42 6 4 1 12
                Sociology and anthropology 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0
                Social sciences nec 204 41 6 1 14 2 1 9 2 6 114 70 39 5 8 41
        Engineering 7,103 3,854 876 707 843 82 82 728 53 483 2,494 1,049 1,121 324 64 691
            Aerospace engineering 170 92 50 7 2 0 8 11 1 13 69 35 27 7 3 6
            Agricultural engineering 133 75 7 5 1 3 3 17 27 12 54 31 15 8 4 0
            Architecturea 6 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 1 1 1 0 0
            Biomedical engineering 1,161 701 75 17 471 24 1 68 0 45 353 158 157 38 1 106
            Chemical engineering 1,098 520 102 120 115 2 10 122 14 35 454 169 221 64 5 119
            Civil engineeringa 590 237 38 43 13 2 12 49 4 76 266 130 104 32 4 83
            Electrical engineering 1,152 632 229 72 66 23 12 157 1 72 337 145 151 41 9 174
            Engineering science 292 174 44 39 26 8 10 32 0 15 115 43 41 31 2 1
            Industrial engineering 127 51 11 2 5 0 0 14 0 19 44 25 13 6 15 17
            Mechanical engineering 985 577 163 101 74 18 19 124 0 78 289 132 111 46 13 106
            Metallurgical and materials engineering 854 453 114 112 34 2 5 101 5 80 338 114 189 35 6 57
            Mining engineering 5 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 2
            Nuclear engineering 120 77 4 48 11 0 0 6 0 8 32 14 17 1 0 11
            Petroleum engineering 53 6 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 45 6 33 6 0 2
            Engineering nec 357 254 39 134 25 0 2 25 1 28 94 45 41 8 2 7
    Health 19,010 10,116 304 22 8,702 340 24 73 36 615 7,658 4,334 2,767 557 172 1,064
        Clinical medicine 16,361 8,664 275 18 7,489 269 20 41 14 538 6,704 3,761 2,420 523 148 845
            Anesthesiology 436 207 3 0 193 1 0 0 0 10 216 123 65 28 2 11
            Cardiology 787 430 1 0 421 0 0 0 0 8 322 191 90 41 3 32
            Endocrinology 473 254 5 0 233 1 0 0 0 15 200 51 109 40 4 15
            Gastroenterology 319 170 4 0 155 0 0 0 1 10 138 74 42 22 4 7
            Hematology 367 195 6 0 183 0 1 0 0 5 158 101 41 16 0 14
            Neurologya 952 510 9 0 447 6 0 0 0 48 406 198 179 29 3 33
            Obstetrics and gynecology 307 119 2 1 112 0 0 0 0 4 159 96 46 17 1 28
            Oncology and cancer research 1,923 875 63 2 742 41 8 1 0 18 929 516 349 64 5 114
            Ophthalmology 518 230 9 0 193 7 1 2 0 18 232 128 91 13 0 56
            Otorhinolaryngology 144 77 0 0 75 0 1 0 0 1 58 37 13 8 2 7
            Pediatrics 1,583 720 16 0 607 50 1 5 10 31 724 500 207 17 25 114
            Preventive medicine and community health 730 399 14 0 313 31 3 5 2 31 232 152 71 9 6 93
            Psychiatry 1,089 695 15 0 530 4 2 3 0 141 296 202 73 21 14 84
            Pulmonary disease 279 171 1 0 142 15 1 0 0 12 107 68 27 12 0 1
            Radiology 979 527 23 13 463 4 0 2 0 22 393 262 101 30 27 32
            Surgery 1,373 586 34 0 504 6 1 1 0 40 695 384 251 60 23 69
            Clinical medicine nec 4,102 2,499 70 2 2,176 103 1 22 1 124 1,439 678 665 96 29 135
        Other health 2,649 1,452 29 4 1,213 71 4 32 22 77 954 573 347 34 24 219
            Dental sciences 343 249 5 0 211 9 1 3 0 20 77 45 29 3 4 13
            Nursing 76 46 1 0 36 7 0 0 0 2 24 18 6 0 0 6
            Pharmaceutical sciences 982 594 11 1 527 17 0 17 0 21 327 188 122 17 12 49
            Speech pathology and audiology 59 43 0 0 32 4 0 2 0 5 15 8 7 0 0 1
            Veterinary sciences 534 192 3 2 131 23 0 5 20 8 266 153 110 3 6 70
            Other health nec 655 328 9 1 276 11 3 5 2 21 245 161 73 11 2 80

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 = U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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. “2007new” presents data as collected in 2007; “2007old” shows data as they would have been collected in prior years. The science fields Communication and Family and consumer sciences and human sciences were newly eligible in 2007; data for these two fields begin in 2007new. The science field Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies was also added to the code list in 2007; some data reported in this field were reported under other fields before 2007 and are included in those fields in 2007old. Neuroscience is reported as a separate field of science in 2007new; data were reported under health field Neurology in 2007old and previous years. Architecture is reported as a separate field of engineering in 2007new; data were reported under Civil engineering in 2007old and previous years. See appendix A in http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf10307/ for more detail.
NOTES: “Field” refers to the field of the unit that reports postdocs to the GSS.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, NSF-NIH Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, 2012.
Data from survey cycle Fall 2012, as of December 2013.