National Postdoc Association Core Competencies

National Postdoc Association Core Competencies

Core Competencies
According to the National Postdoc Association:

The goal of a postdoctoral fellowship is to provide the training necessary for the postdoctoral scholar to achieve intellectual and professional independence and success. This toolkit was developed to provide definition for the scholar and his/her support community as to the competencies essential to achieving this independence. Some of these competencies will have been acquired during graduate training. Thus, some aspects of the competencies will describe refinements of skills already achieved, and some will represent new or advanced skills. The goal of a postdoctoral fellowship is to provide the training necessary for the postdoctoral scholar to achieve intellectual and professional independence and success. This toolkit was developed to provide definition for the scholar and his/her support community as to the competencies essential to achieving this independence. Some of these competencies will have been acquired during graduate training. Thus, some aspects of the competencies will describe refinements of skills already achieved, and some will represent new or advanced skills.

The NPA suggests that by the end of your postdoc, you should have:

  • Field-specific knowledge
  • Research Skills
  • Communication Skills
  • Professional Skills
  • Management and Leadership Skills
  • Responsible conduct of research knowledge and practice


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national postdoc association core competencies

All postdoctoral scholars at Dartmouth qualify for a free affiliate membership in the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA). Dartmouth is an Institutional Member of the National Postdoc Association, which means anyone with a dartmouth.edu email address may becoming an affiliate member of NPA. Instructions for joining below are described here.