Concurrent Appointment & Outside Activity

If you are considering any outside activity — a consulting gig, another appointment, board work, anything outside your PMA role — here is the process:

1. Talk to your faculty sponsor first.
2. Submit an Outside Activity form (found in your Disclosure of Financial Interests and Commitments, under your Access account).
3. Your sponsor and the PMA Division Operations Officer will get a link to review the request.

If you are on a J-1 visa: contact International Scholar Services before starting the activity — this needs their approval first, not just your sponsor's.

Good to know: postdoc appointments at Caltech are full-time by design, so holding another concurrent appointment isn't something that is normally approved. Exceptions exist, but they need sign-off from your sponsor, the Division Chair, and the Vice Provost — so if you are weighing an opportunity, raise it with your sponsor early rather than after you have committed to something.

See Full-Time Commitment in the Postdoc Handbook