Attachment D brochure

EARLY CAREER
DOCTORATE STUDY
For additional information contact:
Peter B. Einaudi, Project Manager

Your work is critical to the success of
the U.S. scientific enterprise and will
influence U.S. and global scientific
markets for years to come.

RTI International
3040 Cornwallis Road
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
E-mail: peinaudi@rti.org
Phone: 800-123-1234

Kelly S. Phou, Project Officer
National Center for Science and Engineering
Statistics
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 965
Arlington, VA 22230
E-mail: kphou@nsf.gov

Visit us at:
www.earlycareerdoctoratestudy.org

Early Career
Doctorate Study

What topics does the survey cover?
Educational
background

Your degrees—dates
awarded, fields of study,
and institutions
Student loan burden

Professional
activities

Conference attendance

The Early Career Doctorate Study is a survey of individuals
like you who earned their first doctoral degree (PhD, MD,
or equivalent) within the last 10 years and are currently
working in one of the following settings:

• The survey uses a secure connection (https)

Professional service

• You have unique credentials (username and password)

Employer
demographics

Type of employer

Professional
and personal
life balance

Your workload

Mentoring

• U.S. academic institution
• Federally Funded Research and Development Center
(FFRDC)
• Intramural research program of the National Institutes
of Health (NIH)
The work of early career doctorates is critical to the
success of the U.S. scientific enterprise. You and your
peers will influence U.S. and global scientific markets for
years to come. Despite the importance of early career
doctorates, there is no current way to track their work
patterns and contributions to the U.S. economy.
To address this need, the National Center for Science and
Engineering Statistics (NCSES) at the National Science
Foundation is starting the Early Career Doctorate Study.
The Center will use this survey to provide needed data on
early career doctorates, including:
• Career paths

• Research opportunities

• Career plans

• Training opportunities

Future career

Protecting your privacy is a priority for NCSES and RTI
(the survey contractor). The following steps ensure that
your privacy and confidentiality are protected and that
identifying data are never reported:

Publications and
presentations
Grant experiences

About the Study

How is my privacy and confidentiality
protected?

Type of work
Flexibility in scheduling
your work
Work relationships
Work expectations
Your plans over the next
10 years

• Only RTI survey staff have access to individual-level
survey data
• All RTI survey staff have signed a confidentiality
statement and an affidavit of nondisclosure
• RTI will remove all personally identifying information
from data files that are sent to NCSES
• RTI will destroy any personally identifying information at
the conclusion of the survey

Will this affect my employment?
How was I selected?
Approximately 80 institutions were asked to participate in
this initial phase of the study. These institutions identified
their early career doctorates. Your name was randomly
selected from these lists.

What does my participation involve?
The web survey takes 20–30 minutes. You will receive
an e-mail with a link to the survey, your username, and
password. You may complete the web survey in one
session or in multiple sessions. If you exit the survey
before you finish, your answers will be saved.

Your participation in this voluntary survey will not affect
your employment in any way. Your institution will not have
access to your answers.