Postdoctoral researchers are critical to advancing CSU’s research mission. When budgeting salaries for postdocs on grant proposals, CSU recommends using a nationally recognized benchmark like NIH to ensure consistency and competitiveness. If information is available for specific areas of expertise or field norms, these can always be taken into consideration.

👉 To determine an appropriate minimum salary for your budgeting, go here: NIH Salary Cap and Stipends

Although developed by the National Institutes of Health, this scale has become the accepted standard across U.S. research institutions and is appropriate to use as a reference point for all postdoctoral appointments, regardless of funding source.

Note: If an international postdoc is named, the Office of International Programs should be consulted as a higher rate may be necessary to support visa requirements. However, when budgeting generally, then the NIH or field standard (if higher) should be used.

Key Points for Budgeting

• Consistency: Using the NIH scale ensures postdoc salaries are competitive and aligned with national expectations.
• Alignment with sponsor expectations: While not mandated outside NIH, many federal and private sponsors are familiar with the NIH salary framework, making it a widely accepted standard for budget development.
• Equity: A common reference prevents wide variation in postdoc pay across units and supports CSU’s recruitment and retention goals.
• Inflation factor: For multi-year proposals, include an annual increase (typically 3%) consistent with CSU Board of Governors raise guidance.

Sample Budget Justification Language

“The postdoctoral researcher salary is budgeted in alignment with the NIH salary cap and stipend scale, which CSU uses as the institutional basis for postdoctoral compensation. An annual increase of 3% has been included consistent with Board of Governors raise requirements.”

Blog post by Colleen Webb, Vice Provost for Graduate Affairs, Dean