McClellan Introduces RESEARCHER Act to Address Financial Insecurity for Graduate and Postdoctoral Researchers

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan (VA-04) reintroduced the Relieving Economic Strain to Enhance American Resilience and Competitiveness in Higher Education and Research (RESEARCHER) Act, a bill to address the financial instability for graduate and postdoctoral researchers.

“Our nation’s graduate and postdoctoral researchers are the building blocks of our nation’s global competitiveness, yet too often we fail to even provide them a living wage, creating a research pipeline that shuts out too many talented researchers, especially those from low-income families,” said Congresswoman McClellan. “The RESEARCHER Act would support our young researchers, invest in their scientific and economic contributions, and build the STEM workforce of tomorrow. ”

The RESEARCHER Act:

• Directs the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to develop a set of policy guidelines for federal research agencies to address the financial instability of graduate and postdoctoral researchers.
• Requires federal research agencies to develop and implement policies based on OSTP’s guidelines.
• Amends the CHIPS and Science Act to supplement data collection on financial instability of graduate and postdoctoral researchers and allows the National Science Foundation to award grants to research this issue.

The bill is endorsed by the American Association of Immunologists, American Geophysical Union, American Mathematical Society, American Physical Society, Association for Women in Science, MIT Graduate Student Council, National Postdoctoral Association, and University of California System.

Read the RESEARCHER Act bill text here. Read the one-pager here.

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