Investments in Early Career Scientists: The Role of Policy in Careers and Productivity

Graduate students, postdocs, and early career scientists play a key role in the generation of new scientific findings, and they constitute the future scientific workforce. Despite their important role in advancing science, the placements of early career doctorates are precarious in many fields given their education and training, and many place in long and poorly compensated postdocs with uncertain career prospects at their conclusion.

The NBER, with the generous support of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, is continuing its research project on the early career paths of scientists. The project is directed by Donna Ginther (University of Kansas and NBER) with a scientific review committee of Joshua Rosenbloom (Iowa State University and NBER) and Bruce Weinberg (Ohio State University and NBER). The project will convene a research conference on Thursday, April 23, 2026 in Cambridge, MA that will bring together a diverse group of researchers to present new evidence on early career doctorates, the institutions surrounding them, and the effects of these institutions on future scientific careers and productivity of the scientific enterprise. The meeting will take place the day before the spring meeting of the NBER Productivity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Program.

The conference organizers welcome papers by researchers from academia, government, as well as the private sector, on topics related to the impact of science funding on science careers. Studies comparing the institutional structures and experiences in different countries and describing the data available on the early stages of scientific careers, are welcome. Topics that could be studied include, but are not limited to, the following:

• How are changes in federal policy affecting early career doctorates and scientific productivity?
• Does postdoctoral training raise the likelihood of pursing a scientific career?
• How does research funding affect science career trajectories?  
• How does research experience in graduate school affect career outcomes?
• How do graduate students and postdocs contribute to the research and development system?
• What is the effect of team size on science careers? 
• Is a postdoc required for industry employment?
• What role do early career scientists play in industrial research?
• How do cross-country differences in institutions affect the prevalence and outcomes of postdocs?
• How does the diversity of scientific teams affect research quality and quantity?

Submissions from researchers with and without NBER affiliations and from early career scholars are welcome. Please do not submit papers that will be published by April 2026.  

To be considered for inclusion on the program, papers or detailed paper outlines with a timetable for completion must be uploaded by January 27, 2026 via the following webpage: 

https://conference.nber.org/confsubmit/backend/cfp?id=ECSs26
 

Decisions about which papers will be included on the program will be announced by the end of February. All papers should include a comprehensive conflict of interest statement that describes any financial or other interests that the researchers might have with regard to the research. Please direct questions about this project to confer@nber.org.