UNMC’s postdoctoral scholars make essential contributions to the biomedical research mission of the research enterprise, a new survey shows.
The UNMC Office of Postdoctoral Education in February conducted a five-year survey into the publications of UNMC’s postdocs, gaining insights into their research productivity.
Going back to 2021, UNMC postdoctoral researchers published 548 first author, peer-reviewed papers – an authorship status that reflects the scholars’ key role in projects and dissemination of the findings. In fiscal year 2024-25, postdocs published 116 first author, peer-reviewed papers.
“Our postdoctoral scholars make an undeniably significant impact on UNMC’s research efforts,” said Iqbal Ahmad, PhD, associate dean and director of the UNMC Office of Postdoctoral Education. “Our survey focused only on first author, peer-review publications, as they demonstrate the most significant and indispensable intellectual contributions of postdocs in the execution of the research project.”
Said Ken Bayles, PhD, UNMC’s vice chancellor for research, “Our post-doctoral fellows are one of the main drivers of any productive research program. The survey confirms what I already knew – that we have a fantastic postdoc program here at UNMC with a lot of very talented young investigators.”
The UNMC Office of Postdoctoral Education also undertook a separate, general survey of the postdoctoral education program. This survey, which was conducted in November and December 2025, was intended to capture feedback from postdocs about their experiences, challenges and needs, Dr. Ahmad said.
The general survey was designed with the help of faculties and postdocs representatives on the postdoctoral education advisory council.
Among the general survey findings:
- 75% of respondents rated their workload reasonable, and 69% rated their job as either not stressful or somewhat stressful. Postdocs reported they were almost never stressed by their working relationships with colleagues and mentors.
- 64% agree or strongly agree that UNMC is preparing them adequately for their career goals, and 67% of postdocs are very satisfied or satisfied with their training at UNMC.
- 68% of postdocs would recommend UNMC for the postdoc training. The top three reasons were mentoring, training resources and training support.
- 83% of respondents report that mentors have met their expectations for successful training. Three out of four postdocs agree their mentors are supportive of their career plans.
Dr. Ahmad said, “The information obtained from the survey provides valuable information as to which areas of their postdoc training are most important and impactful and which can be improved to better meet their needs.”
UNMC Chancellor H. Dele Davies, MD, said, “I want to commend our postdocs for their meaningful contributions to UNMC’s academic culture. Alongside our talented faculty, they continue to advance research and drive breakthroughs that are changing lives in Nebraska and beyond.”