Postdocs often exist in no-man's land. No longer students in the care of the research institution, they are left without guidance about benefits, training or professional development. University offices dedicated to their needs can help. Yet of 135 academic institutions tracked by the US National Postdoctoral Association (NPA), 34 have no postdoc office and 61 have no postdoc association. Some 14 have no postdoc infrastructure at all.

Creating the infrastructure is a time-consuming and often frustrating endeavour. In response, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which funded the formation of the NPA in 2003, recently awarded funding to create a postdoc leadership mentoring project. It will pair mentors who have set up postdoc associations or offices with protégés who seek to do so.

The project offers up to 45 travel awards for mentors and protégés to go to the NPA annual meeting in Berkeley, California, from 30 March to 1 April. It will be an important venue for founders to pass on experience to the next generation of postdocs — a history that is too easily lost after people move on, says Chris Blagden, a founder of the postdoc association at New York University's School of Medicine.

According to a recent survey by the researchers' society Sigma Xi, 82% of postdocs represented by an office or association were satisfied with their experience; 9% reported conflicts. But only 59% of unrepresented postdocs were satisfied and 22% reported conflicts. “We've been able to make the case that postdoc offices and associations are critical elements for postdoc training,” says Alyson Reed, the NPA's executive director.

Virginia Cox of the Sloan Foundation hopes the project will lead to the formation of at least ten associations or offices. Allison De Marco, a postdoc at Pennsylvania State University, who is applying to be a protégé, says her big challenge is learning how to keep fellow postdocs interested while keeping up her own research.

Time constraints, money and institutional resistance can also be formidable challenges, says Reed. Many institutions worry that a postdoc organization will lead to a labour union demanding better pay and benefits. She says leaders need to learn how to communicate effectively with the administration.

“The best success stories come from postdoc associations working with faculty members to champion policies that improve housing subsidies, childcare and career development plans,” says Reed.