Information for Current Postdoctoral Fellows at CU Denver | Anschutz

​Here's a brief list of what you need to do to get started:

• Work with your departmental HR professional to establish your appointment (details in the next section).
  
• Complete the required HR trainings and any discipline-specific trainings (e.g., Biosafety, COMIRB, IACUC, etc.)
  
• Attend the Postdoctoral Office's new postdoc orientation. To register, send an email to the Postdoctoral Office​ with "Orientation" in the subject line.
  
• Fill-out the new postdoc Entrance Survey​.
  
• Complete your Individual Career Plan (ICP), and then discuss it with your mentor(s).
  
• Complete the Constituent Diversity Questionnaire​.
  

All HR-related issues are handled by the HR professionals within your Department or School, including each of the following items:

• ​Setting up your payroll and employment in University systems ​
  
• Assigning your work space/lab and any equipment needed 
  
• Arranging for campus badge ID, key issue, parking permissions, etc. 
  
• Informing you of required training (e.g., new employee orientation, biosafety, entrance survey, postdoctoral orientation, IDPs, etc.). 
  
• Administering annual performance reviews 
  
• Completing reappointment paperwork and salary adjustments 
  

​If you have questions about the appointment process, contact your departmental HR professional or Director of Finance and Administration (DFA).​ HR professionals and DFAs should reference the Policy for Research Postdoctoral Fellows-Trainees when making decisions, and are encouraged to contact the Postdoctoral Office​ with questions. ​​​​​​​​​

Completed your training? Please complete the Postdoctoral Office Exit Survey.

The survey should only take about 10 minutes and sharing your experience will help us ensure we are providing a supportive postdoctoral training environment.

Postdoctoral Fellows are hired directly by their faculty mentors and the Department and School in which they conduct their training. Guidelines for postdoctoral fellows’ salaries and benefits are described in the university “Policy for Research Postdoctoral Fellows-Trainees”. Postdoctoral fellows must receive a salary at least equal to the zero year experience level of the NIH NRSA stipend scales.

All Postdoctoral Fellows employed 50% or more receive the same benefits, regardless of the source of their support.  You can find your full benefits eligibility on the CU Employee Services website.

Briefly, benefits include the standard employee offerings and are subject to the same eligibility and usage requirements as other employment classifications and include the following items:

• Group medical and dental insurance
• Life and AD&D insurance
• Short and long-term disability
• Workers’ compensation
• Unemployment compensation
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• COBRA upon termination
• Tuition waiver benefit – *note that you must first register as a non-degree seeking student in the graduate school and registration deadlines apply.
• Discounted or free software packages

Leave and Holidays: In addition to campus holidays listed, full-time postdoctoral fellows also receive 12 working days of vacation and 12 working days of sick leave per fiscal year (24 working days total, or 192 hours), and are eligible for Family Medical Leave similar to the standard criteria used for other campus employees.  

Postdoctoral fellows are also considered equivalent to medical residents for the purposes of loan deferment. If you would like to apply for loan deferment, please use this form and email the Postdoctoral Office at postdoc.office@cuanschutz.edu. 

​General University resources, policies, and procedures will be explained to you at your New Employee Orientation. 

You can find this information in the New Employee Orientation packet, and instructions for New Employee Orientation registration can be found here. Additionally, here are some other resources that also may be helpful for you as you begin your new position: 

• Anschutz Medical Campus library: Health Sciences Library
• Denver Campus library: Auraria Library
• Faculty and Staff Threat Assessment and Response Team (FaST): The - FaST team helps with issues of mental health crisis and can be reached by email or by phone at 303-315-0182.
• Office of Diversity and Inclusion 
• The Office of Research Development and Education (ORDE) is one of the best places on campus to identify internal and external funding sources.
• Responsible Conduct of Research Training​
  
• The Center for Faculty Development​
  
• The Ombuds Office and the CU Anschutz Office of Professional Excellence​
  
• The grievance policy.
  
• The Writing Center at CU Anschutz
• The Writing Center at CU Denver
  
• University Research is the home for all research activities at CU Denver and CU Anschutz and provides a platform to navigate research infrastructure resources, expertise and best practices for researchers, study staff and administrators.
• Graduate School guidelines for the use of generative AI in research.

• Human Research Protocols: ​COMIRB

• Animal Research Protocols: IACUC​

• NIH Loan Repayment Program. Questions? Contact our very own LRP Ambassador, Dr. Eric Moody, who can help you with questions about the program and your application.  

This is just a short list of the general resources available to you at the University. Please contact the Postdoctoral Office​ if you specific questions. 
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​With an average 300 days of sunshine a year and easy access to the beautiful Rocky Mountains, Denver’s appeal is not surprising. 
So now that you’re part of the city, here are some resources that may be helpful as you navigate life in the Denver Metro area:​

• General information about living in Aurora and Denver​​ 
  
• Campus Fitness Centers: Campus Recreation at Auraria; Anschutz Health and Wellness Center (ask for the Postdoctoral Fellow rate).
  
• Housing: CU Denver | Anschutz Off-Campus Housing, ForRentUniversity.com - CU Denver; CU Anschutz Medical Campus​ 
• Childcare website
  
• Commuting​ to Campus
• Parking: Denver Campus; Anschutz Medical Campus​. Regardless of whether you buy a parking permit, parking on the Anschutz Medical Campus is free after hours (6pm to 6am) and on weekends. Just visit the parking office in the Fitzsimons Building and request that evening and weekend parking access is added to your badge (one time $10 activation fee applies).  
• Employee Discounts around the City​
• One of the best ways to learn other helpful information about life in Denver is by talking to your fellow postdocs. You can find venues for networking and meeting other postdocs on the Getting Connected​ page and on the Postdoctoral Association's website.

During this extremely exciting, but stressful, time in your life, it’s important to remember to take care of yourself. Wellness encompasses many different aspects of your life (e.g., physical, mental, financial, spiritual, etc.), and the more you can incorporate wellness into your daily life, the happier and more productive you will be. CU Anschutz has a new tool to help you connect to resources and here are some other resources to help you maintain balance:

Physical Wellness: