Back to Data Tables
Excel icon Download to excel

Table 39. Postdoctoral appointees in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by detailed field and primary source of support: 2016

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 64,712 33,184 2,309 1,755 19,896 829 641 4,113 754 2,887 25,945 13,540 10,374 2,031 719 4,864
Science and engineering 45,737 24,289 2,065 1,735 12,254 523 627 4,031 700 2,354 17,810 9,480 6,892 1,438 419 3,219
Science 37,941 20,493 1,099 1,225 11,404 477 536 3,234 646 1,872 14,436 7,794 5,572 1,070 338 2,674
Agricultural sciences 1,484 677 22 36 30 5 12 139 295 138 670 397 255 18 14 123
Biological sciences 19,427 11,054 265 120 8,444 325 35 839 288 738 6,779 3,346 2,986 447 106 1,488
Anatomy 184 126 2 0 101 13 0 7 0 3 49 26 18 5 0 9
Biochemistry 1,776 1,038 24 36 761 57 4 56 8 92 622 317 272 33 1 115
Biology 2,094 1,088 37 23 607 28 5 304 34 50 861 500 281 80 31 114
Biometry and epidemiology 676 376 5 0 316 8 0 18 0 29 173 97 64 12 4 123
Biophysics 148 89 0 0 76 0 0 2 0 11 51 17 33 1 0 8
Botany and plant biology 648 346 5 22 28 1 3 141 114 32 261 174 79 8 0 41
Cell and molecular biology 2,310 1,320 27 2 1,145 26 4 33 6 77 852 324 461 67 0 138
Ecology 154 63 1 7 9 5 1 24 8 8 82 53 28 1 0 9
Entomology and parasitology 254 142 3 0 42 0 0 27 59 11 84 53 25 6 0 28
Genetics 1,566 841 6 2 650 52 3 37 7 84 494 242 233 19 0 231
Microbiology, immunology, and virology 2,139 1,295 37 10 1,070 31 3 24 6 114 640 266 340 34 2 202
Nutrition 265 108 2 0 52 8 0 2 28 16 115 85 27 3 0 42
Pathology 1,264 669 17 0 633 2 0 2 1 14 512 254 206 52 27 56
Pharmacology and toxicology 1,193 762 13 0 677 21 1 4 0 46 365 180 164 21 1 65
Physiology 1,494 945 28 2 807 57 2 19 2 28 448 216 205 27 0 101
Zoology 46 20 1 1 3 2 0 10 1 2 26 22 4 0 0 0
Biosciences nec 3,216 1,826 57 15 1,467 14 9 129 14 121 1,144 520 546 78 40 206
Communication 86 29 2 0 18 0 0 9 0 0 50 28 10 12 0 7
Computer sciences 914 478 132 21 62 5 2 201 0 55 356 200 127 29 7 73
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 2,104 1,212 96 71 98 2 210 442 21 272 797 380 256 161 24 71
Atmospheric sciences 254 156 4 16 1 0 32 41 1 61 89 38 12 39 1 8
Geosciences 688 356 7 18 2 0 98 194 3 34 284 171 80 33 9 39
Ocean sciences 429 252 16 5 2 2 23 128 1 75 163 70 76 17 0 14
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 733 448 69 32 93 0 57 79 16 102 261 101 88 72 14 10
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 116 49 0 0 30 1 1 4 6 7 51 38 13 0 3 13
Mathematics and statistics 1,005 337 63 19 35 1 3 187 3 26 571 483 73 15 24 73
Mathematics and applied mathematics 887 273 56 15 15 1 3 159 2 22 521 445 63 13 24 69
Statistics 118 64 7 4 20 0 0 28 1 4 50 38 10 2 0 4
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 1,095 622 48 66 292 21 4 111 6 74 383 222 149 12 25 65
Neurobiology and neuroscience 2,071 1,139 19 0 987 25 2 37 0 69 734 289 404 41 0 198
Physical sciences 7,269 3,960 404 887 932 62 249 1,070 6 350 2,855 1,601 996 258 65 389
Astronomy and astrophysics 440 263 3 28 6 0 115 85 0 26 156 106 46 4 3 18
Chemistry 3,742 1,938 211 265 839 57 9 457 3 97 1,573 825 588 160 40 191
Physics 2,819 1,589 179 558 80 4 113 483 3 169 1,033 604 337 92 21 176
Physical sciences nec 268 170 11 36 7 1 12 45 0 58 93 66 25 2 1 4
Psychology 1,177 646 32 0 406 24 2 94 0 88 452 278 136 38 25 54
Clinical psychology 76 43 1 0 36 0 0 1 0 5 20 17 3 0 4 9
Psychology, general 721 385 18 0 245 20 2 64 0 36 286 182 86 18 18 32
Psychology nec 380 218 13 0 125 4 0 29 0 47 146 79 47 20 3 13
Social sciences 1,193 290 16 5 70 6 16 101 21 55 738 532 167 39 45 120
Agricultural economics 64 24 0 1 0 0 0 3 12 8 33 25 7 1 0 7
Anthropology 152 28 1 0 6 0 0 17 2 2 96 68 14 14 6 22
Economics (except agricultural) 89 12 1 0 1 0 0 6 2 2 68 51 16 1 6 3
Geography 99 53 2 1 1 0 8 27 2 12 44 34 9 1 1 1
History and philosophy of science 11 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 9 4 3 2 0 1
Linguistics 38 11 0 0 4 0 0 7 0 0 24 20 0 4 0 3
Political science and government 319 52 6 2 10 0 0 12 1 21 211 151 52 8 11 45
Sociology 112 44 2 0 26 3 0 10 1 2 64 41 19 4 0 4
Sociology and anthropology 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 1
Social sciences nec 306 65 4 1 22 3 8 18 1 8 187 136 47 4 21 33
Engineering 7,796 3,796 966 510 850 46 91 797 54 482 3,374 1,686 1,320 368 81 545
Aerospace engineering 201 89 46 11 2 1 12 10 0 7 92 45 42 5 0 20
Agricultural engineering 165 72 1 5 14 1 2 11 28 10 76 52 20 4 5 12
Architecture 16 5 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 2 11 6 5 0 0 0
Biomedical engineering 1,278 714 94 5 517 7 1 52 3 35 481 239 184 58 4 79
Chemical engineering 1,218 485 76 87 102 7 8 136 7 62 632 287 263 82 10 91
Civil engineering 706 306 50 38 11 0 11 80 7 109 342 193 121 28 14 44
Electrical engineering 1,186 632 270 50 59 4 10 162 1 76 438 215 172 51 28 88
Engineering science, mechanics, and physics 284 138 42 24 13 5 5 27 0 22 140 91 37 12 0 6
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 130 51 17 5 11 1 0 11 0 6 63 44 13 6 1 15
Mechanical engineering 1,080 559 178 94 57 14 34 130 0 52 425 225 155 45 6 90
Metallurgical and materials engineering 882 437 142 108 28 6 5 94 6 48 379 171 163 45 1 65
Mining engineering 10 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 6 4 2 0 0 1
Nuclear engineering 100 59 0 35 0 0 1 7 0 16 30 10 16 4 0 11
Petroleum engineering 72 14 1 11 0 0 0 1 0 1 54 12 36 6 2 2
Engineering nec 468 232 49 37 35 0 2 74 2 33 205 92 91 22 10 21
Health 18,975 8,895 244 20 7,642 306 14 82 54 533 8,135 4,060 3,482 593 300 1,645
Clinical medicine 16,165 7,508 214 19 6,539 235 9 49 4 439 6,984 3,369 3,057 558 286 1,387
Anesthesiology 424 197 4 0 188 1 0 1 0 3 165 116 37 12 10 52
Cardiovascular science 716 354 2 0 326 12 0 0 0 14 344 156 132 56 7 11
Endocrinology 355 183 1 0 175 3 0 0 0 4 165 71 71 23 0 7
Gastroenterology 304 128 0 0 119 1 0 0 0 8 170 88 55 27 0 6
Hematology 316 144 3 0 133 2 0 5 0 1 155 74 64 17 0 17
Neurology 1,027 437 18 0 379 0 0 2 0 38 438 202 201 35 23 129
Obstetrics and gynecology 297 105 1 0 98 2 0 0 0 4 169 73 87 9 3 20
Oncology and cancer research 2,206 869 32 0 775 17 2 7 0 36 1,157 422 696 39 7 173
Ophthalmology 567 281 9 0 261 2 0 4 0 5 247 98 121 28 17 22
Otorhinolaryngology 207 119 6 0 108 0 1 0 0 4 76 29 41 6 3 9
Pediatrics 1,191 493 7 3 438 24 0 3 1 17 611 334 254 23 1 86
Preventive medicine and community health 796 409 11 2 299 40 4 10 3 40 224 120 90 14 13 150
Psychiatry 1,060 605 9 0 485 10 0 1 0 100 326 167 145 14 16 113
Pulmonary disease 299 183 0 0 166 2 0 0 0 15 116 75 32 9 0 0
Radiology 1,011 441 16 13 394 9 0 3 0 6 430 235 154 41 18 122
Surgery 1,287 529 28 0 472 8 1 3 0 17 589 335 178 76 36 133
Clinical medicine nec 4,102 2,031 67 1 1,723 102 1 10 0 127 1,602 774 699 129 132 337
Other health 2,810 1,387 30 1 1,103 71 5 33 50 94 1,151 691 425 35 14 258
Communication disorders sciences 77 54 2 0 46 1 0 1 0 4 21 12 7 2 1 1
Dental sciences 287 175 2 0 154 5 0 0 0 14 77 45 31 1 7 28
Nursing science 107 63 1 0 53 1 0 0 0 8 38 34 4 0 1 5
Pharmaceutical sciences 1,007 481 10 1 397 21 1 23 5 23 452 254 171 27 0 74
Veterinary sciences 600 240 6 0 143 25 1 5 43 17 243 186 55 2 0 117
Other health nec 732 374 9 0 310 18 3 4 2 28 320 160 157 3 5 33
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 postdoctorates 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, 2016.