Stage 2: Individual Survey - ECD Contactor

EARLY CAREER
DOCTORATES SURVEY
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: 1-800-848-4075

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.earlycareerdoctoratessurvey.org

Early Career
DoctorateS SURVEY

What topics does the survey cover?
Educational
history

Degrees earned—dates
awarded, fields of study,
and institutions

Professional
activities and
achievements

Conference attendance
Publications and
presentations
Professional service
Grants experiences
Patents

About the Survey
The Early Career Doctorates Survey is a survey of
individuals who earned their first doctoral degree
(PhD, MD, or equivalent) within the last 10 years and
are currently working in one of the following areas of
employment:
• U.S. academic institutions
• Federally funded research and development centers
(FFRDCs)
• Intramural research program of the National Institutes
of Health (NIH)
The work and professional development of recent
doctorate recipients will influence innovation in U.S. and
global markets for years to come. Despite the critical
importance of this population to the success of the U.S.
science and engineering enterprise, comprehensive
surveys of this group are limited, and the data needed to
understand their work patterns and contributions to the
U.S. economy are sparse.
To address this need, the National Center for Science and
Engineering Statistics (NCSES) at the National Science
Foundation developed the Early Career Doctorates
Project to gather in-depth information about postdoctoral
appointees (postdocs) and other recent doctorate recipients
during the first 10 years of their working careers.

Employer
characteristics

Type of employer

Professional
and personal
life balance

Typical workload

Mentoring,
training, and
research
opportunities
Career paths
and plans

Type of work
Flexibility in scheduling
your work
Work relationships
Work expectations
Training

How are my privacy and confidentiality
protected?
Protecting your privacy is a priority for NCSES and RTI
International (the survey contractor). The following steps
ensure that your privacy and confidentiality are protected:
• The survey data will be used for statistical purposes only
and will be safeguarded in accordance with the National
Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended, and the
Confidentiality Information Protection and Statistical
Efficiency Act of 2002.
• The survey uses a secure connection (https) and all data
will be maintained within encrypted databases.
• You have unique credentials (username and password).
• All survey staff will complete a confidentiality training
and sign an affidavit of nondisclosure before working on
the survey.

Research opportunities

• All personally identifiable information (PII) will be
removed from the final data files.

Plans over the next
10 years

• Prior to publication, data will be aggregated in ways that
prevent the identification of individual respondents.

How was I selected?

Will this affect my employment?

Approximately 201 institutions were selected to participate
in this survey. A coordinator at your institution compiled
a list of all early career doctorates employed by the
institution. Your name was randomly selected from this list.

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

What does my participation involve?
The web survey takes about 30 minutes. You will receive
an e-mail with a link to the survey, your username, and
your 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.