PMA Postdoctoral Scholar Resources
Welcome to PMA! Below are essential contacts, forms, and resources to help you navigate your postdoc appointment. Bookmark this page; you will come back to it more than once.
Division & Institute
- PMA Division Office: Jessica Varlet
- PMA Faculty Representatives: Jason Alicea
- PMA Postdoc Representative: Mandy Chen
- Postdoctoral Scholars Office: Stacie Takase
- Caltech Postdoctoral Association
HR & Benefits
- General HR Requests: Cassandra Juarez
- Payroll (paycheck/tax): [email protected]
- Leaves of Absence: [email protected]
- Outside Activity: [email protected]
- Conflict of Interest: [email protected]
- Benefits
- Disability & Leave Unit
- Staff & Faculty Consultation Center
- Worklife Balance Resources
International Scholar Services
- Concurrent Appointments & Outside Activity
- Departure from Caltech
- Job Interviews
- Sick Time
- Travel & Work off campus
- Vacations and Time Away Tracker
- Verification of Employment: Complete this HR form and email it to Cassandra Juarez
- Visa Fee Reimbursement Form
Welcome to PMA. Before you can start, Caltech has to formalize your appointment — this section covers what happens and what is expected of you before your start date.
Your group will send you a link to complete a new-appointee form — if you don't receive it, ask for it. In parallel, they will work with the PMA Academic Affairs Manager on your appointment details. Your formal offer letter from Human Resources typically follows a few weeks later — read it carefully and sign it promptly; nothing else can move forward until you do.
If you are a foreign national, International Scholar Services (ISS) will contact you separately about work authorization. Start this as early as possible — it can take longer than people expect, and you need valid work authorization in hand before your appointment can begin.
A few more resources, compiled by the Caltech Postdoctoral Association:
Before or Upon Arrival
- Complete Caltech onboarding
These steps activate your appointment, ID, and benefits. None of them are optional, and several have downstream effects — a late I-9 can delay your first paycheck, an unregistered ID can lock you out of buildings.
Watch for emails from a Scholar Services Specialist in HR: "Welcome from Caltech Human Resources" (sent with your offer), then "Caltech HR: Onboarding" and "Caltech HR: Onboarding Follow-up" closer to your start date. Each one has action items, some with deadlines. Read them fully.
Activate your appointment: You will meet with your Scholar Services Specialist and, if applicable, International Scholar Services. Key tasks:- Complete your I-9 and any other required employment documentation.
- Upload a photo for your Caltech ID card and arrange pickup.
- Complete required benefits enrollment.
- International scholars: complete the additional requirements through International Scholar Services.
Resources: International Scholar Services • Caltech Benefits
- Check in with your group administrator
Meet with your group administrator and make sure you know:- Who your faculty sponsor/PI is.
- Where your office or primary work location is.
- Update your office and personal information in your Access account > My Personal Information.
- How to get keys, building access, and other group-specific access.
- Your group's expectations for vacation, sick time, purchasing, travel, P-card use (if applicable), and reimbursements — policies are Institute-wide, but timing and process often depend on your group.
- Whether you need to complete and return the Workplace-Specific Safety Orientation form to your group administrator or lab manager.
- Ask if there are internal mailing lists you should join. You will automatically be added to the PMA postdoc and PMA Newsletter mailing lists.
Questions? Jessica Varlet, PMA Academic Affairs Manager.
- Attend Postdoctoral Scholar Orientation — required for all newly hired postdocs. You will get a Google-form invite by email.
Resource: Postdoctoral Scholar Orientation
- Review the Postdoctoral Scholars Handbook — you don't need to memorize it, but you should know it exists and where to find it when something comes up.
Resource: Postdoctoral Scholars Handbook
- Review your benefits — health, dental, vision, retirement, and other elections.
Resource: Caltech Benefits
- Record time away — every time
Vacation and sick time must be logged in the Time Away Tracker.- Coordinate vacation with your PI/supervisor in advance.
- Record vacation and sick time in the Time Away Tracker as you take it.
Resource: Vacation & Time Away • Postdoctoral Scholars Handbook
- Get travel approval before you book — not after
Before making any work-related travel arrangements:- Get written approval by email from your supervisor first.
- Keep that approval for your records.
- Follow the applicable Caltech/PMA travel procedures.
- Submit the required documentation for reimbursement.
If you book before you have approval, the expense may not be reimbursed — there's no exception for good intentions. Working from somewhere other than your approved worksite can also need advance review; international scholars should check with ISS.
PMA resource: Travel & Work Off Campus
- Review outside activity requirements —this covers outside employment, consulting, a concurrent appointment, or any other outside professional activity.
PMA resource: Concurrent Appointment & Outside Activity
- If You Have a Research Fund
- Review your research fund — your administrator, PI or PI's Grant Manager can tell you the amount available.
- Tracking the remaining balance is your responsibility — if you overspend your account, you will be responsible for those expenses.
- Confirm with your group administrator before making a purchase or committing funds — after the fact is too late; some expenses are not allowable.
- The fund covers eligible research-related expenses only and is subject to Caltech and PMA policy.
Caltech Resource: Research Purchasing / Reimbursement
- Get Connected
None of this is required — but it makes the next few years better.- Join the postdoc community — the Caltech postdoc Slack channel is where most informal postdoc-to-postdoc info actually travels.
- Join the Caltech Postdoctoral Association (CPA) — organizes events and connects you with postdocs across the Institute.
Resource: Caltech Postdoctoral Association
- Explore professional-development resources
- CALE / Career Development https://career.caltech.edu/
- Center for Teaching, Learning & Outreach https://ctlo.caltech.edu/
- Hixon Writing Center https://writing.caltech.edu/
Remember to:
- Record vacation and sick time in the Time Away Tracker.
- Get prior written approval before work-related travel or committing research funds.
- Keep documentation needed for travel reimbursement.
- Get approval before starting outside activities or a concurrent appointment.
- Check your Caltech email regularly — this is Caltech's official channel for time-sensitive notices.
- Keep your contact and profile information current.
- Complete required training when assigned.
- Complete your conflict of interest/financial disclosure.
- Communicate with your PI and group Admin in a timely manner. Communication is key for smooth processes.
- Come back to this page when you have an administrative question — it is kept current.
- Discuss your last working day and any remaining vacation time with your PI.
- Download and complete the HR Departure Form (DFA).
- Submit the completed HR form to the Division for processing.
- Coordinate the return of your keys, ID card, parking permit, P-card with your group Admin.
- Tell your collaborators you are leaving and share your new email address.
- To forward your Caltech email, submit a Forwarding Request Form. Requires your supervisor's endorsement — have their name ready.
- Set up an auto-reply pointing senders to your new address before you leave; it stays active until the account is deleted (typically 6 months after departure).
Notice Requirements
- Resigning before the end of your appointment: at least 30 calendar days' written notice to both the Institute and the Union is required under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
- Leaving at the end of your contract: at least 30 calendar days' written notice to your PI and the Division, for a smooth transition and an on-time final paycheck.
Vacation
- Remember to use any remaining vacation before your last working day.
- Year-based appointments: your salary is budgeted for 11 months of work and 1 month of vacation.
- Month-based appointments: vacation time is built into your salary (pro-rated).
- Coordinate vacation budgeting and payout with your PI. Vacation payout cannot be charged to federal awards.
Notes
- Date of Termination: your final day as a Caltech employee, even if you're using vacation time leading up to it.
- Partial Month Pay: if you don't work a full calendar month, that paycheck is prorated and included with the previous month's direct deposit.
- Email Access: retained for one month after your termination date.
- IMSS offers email forwarding for one year upon request.
- You can also sign up for an @alumni.caltech.edu address — details here
Certificate of completion
- This is not a verification of employment — it's a degree-like document suitable for framing. For an official employment verification letter, complete this HR form and email it to Cassandra Juarez.
