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Table 32. Postdoctoral appointees in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by detailed field: 2009–14

Field 2009 2010a,b 2011b 2012 2013 2014oldc 2014newc
All surveyed fields 57,805 63,439 62,639 62,851 61,942 62,379 63,593
Science and engineering 40,804 44,320 44,121 43,841 43,395 43,476 44,623
Science 34,388 37,351 37,335 36,738 36,289 36,184 37,316
Agricultural sciences 1,083 1,190 1,256 1,290 1,319 1,395 1,402
Biological sciences 20,159 21,726 21,107 20,086 19,330 18,749 19,554
Anatomy 371 413 374 287 258 235 235
Biochemistry 2,351 2,523 2,314 2,232 2,097 1,885 1,885
Biology 2,430 2,533 2,341 2,268 2,141 2,209 2,392
Biometry and epidemiology 395 566 523 536 638 652 652
Biophysics 180 263 194 185 164 156 156
Botany and plant biology 640 559 561 596 614 626 626
Cell and molecular biology 2,638 2,780 2,653 2,574 2,387 2,141 2,270
Ecology 233 216 200 205 107 102 102
Entomology and parasitology 248 233 261 266 258 279 279
Genetics 1,054 1,348 1,460 1,407 1,394 1,385 1,385
Microbiology, immunology, and virology 2,265 2,566 2,574 2,437 2,188 2,120 2,187
Nutrition 214 245 247 224 214 236 236
Pathology 1,791 1,811 1,673 1,582 1,505 1,469 1,469
Pharmacology and toxicology 1,523 1,652 1,554 1,383 1,284 1,185 1,226
Physiology 1,427 1,461 1,527 1,399 1,412 1,298 1,380
Zoology 78 76 85 87 94 75 75
Biosciences nec 2,321 2,481 2,566 2,418 2,575 2,696 2,999
Communication 38 62 67 58 76 75 75
Computer sciences 594 763 759 760 765 833 834
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 1,424 1,740 1,774 1,956 2,032 2,059 2,061
Atmospheric sciences 124 189 167 209 209 212 212
Geosciences 536 601 578 637 730 725 725
Ocean sciences 410 332 408 446 423 421 423
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 354 618 621 664 670 701 701
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 22 30 52 58 90 93 114
Mathematics and statistics 737 791 830 902 932 956 959
Mathematics and applied mathematics 675 715 733 782 787 837 840
Statistics 62 76 97 120 145 119 119
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 459 785 704 742 891 1,045 1,045
Neurobiology and neuroscience 645 838 1,398 1,525 1,696 1,778 1,878
Physical sciences 7,447 7,583 7,490 7,430 7,197 7,089 7,277
Astronomy and astrophysics 507 532 524 509 407 390 390
Chemistry 4,219 4,179 4,005 4,016 3,850 3,708 3,891
Physics 2,517 2,608 2,694 2,651 2,682 2,733 2,738
Physical sciences nec 204 264 267 254 258 258 258
Psychology 1,219 1,132 1,124 1,132 1,023 1,062 1,066
Clinical psychology 130 135 94 104 104 85 85
Psychology, general 755 664 639 613 568 582 584
Psychology nec 334 333 391 415 351 395 397
Social sciences 561 711 774 799 938 1,050 1,051
Agricultural economics 43 44 47 60 61 65 65
Anthropology 77 86 82 96 118 142 142
Economics (except agricultural) 65 60 38 50 62 86 86
Geography 58 62 58 69 89 104 104
History and philosophy of science 9 17 9 14 14 9 9
Linguistics 14 27 31 31 33 36 36
Political science and government 77 93 220 176 239 258 258
Sociology 59 83 91 97 93 91 91
Sociology and anthropology 3 0 2 2 3 3 3
Social sciences nec 156 239 196 204 226 256 257
Engineering 6,416 6,969 6,786 7,103 7,106 7,292 7,307
Aerospace engineering 168 212 202 170 202 220 220
Agricultural engineering 110 119 129 133 152 146 150
Architecture 22 10 16 6 17 14 14
Biomedical engineering 960 1,023 1,069 1,161 1,103 1,196 1,198
Chemical engineering 1,084 1,077 1,137 1,098 1,230 1,244 1,244
Civil engineering 535 571 551 590 587 629 629
Electrical engineering 1,025 1,095 1,035 1,152 1,180 1,177 1,179
Engineering science, mechanics, and physics 226 236 281 292 240 270 270
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 109 151 121 127 133 131 131
Mechanical engineering 948 1,021 889 985 1,034 1,055 1,058
Metallurgical and materials engineering 758 841 860 854 809 776 780
Mining engineering 4 4 4 5 7 15 15
Nuclear engineering 90 107 111 120 105 112 112
Petroleum engineering 36 44 35 53 49 66 66
Engineering nec 341 458 346 357 258 241 241
Health 17,001 19,119 18,518 19,010 18,547 18,903 18,970
Clinical medicine 14,601 16,515 16,165 16,361 15,831 16,164 16,216
Anesthesiology 435 497 407 436 439 434 434
Cardiovascular science 532 624 687 787 777 742 742
Endocrinology 475 456 439 473 441 435 435
Gastroenterology 269 303 343 319 317 318 318
Hematology 429 347 364 367 348 378 378
Neurology 1,418 1,305 1,029 952 941 1,124 1,124
Obstetrics and gynecology 279 349 324 307 301 325 325
Oncology and cancer research 1,681 1,919 1,867 1,923 1,859 1,840 1,840
Ophthalmology 462 466 461 518 528 574 574
Otorhinolaryngology 137 142 158 144 160 164 164
Pediatrics 1,003 1,311 1,441 1,583 1,584 1,512 1,512
Preventive medicine and community health 395 630 654 730 703 658 658
Psychiatry 918 959 979 1,089 1,008 1,095 1,095
Pulmonary disease 251 285 294 279 288 287 287
Radiology 977 1,032 987 979 921 990 990
Surgery 1,342 1,267 1,241 1,373 1,297 1,360 1,360
Clinical medicine nec 3,598 4,623 4,490 4,102 3,919 3,928 3,980
Other health 2,400 2,604 2,353 2,649 2,716 2,739 2,754
Communication disorders sciences 58 55 48 59 49 61 61
Dental sciences 291 353 346 343 303 327 328
Nursing science 70 55 79 76 77 82 82
Pharmaceutical sciences 977 1,070 1,009 982 995 1,004 1,016
Veterinary sciences 470 468 450 534 564 512 513
Other health nec 534 603 421 655 728 753 754
nec = not elsewhere classified.
a 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/.
b Postdoc data from 2010 and 2011 were reimputed following the 2012 data collection; these data supersede those contained in previous reports.
c In 2014, the survey frame was updated following a comprehensive frame evaluation study. The study identified potentially eligible but not previously surveyed academic institutions in the United States with master's- or doctorate-granting programs in science, engineering, or health. A total of 151 newly eligible institutions were added, and two private for-profit institutions offering mostly practitioner-based graduate degrees were determined to be ineligible.
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, 2014.