On 28 February, AGU sent a letter to science committee leadership in the House and Senate once again endorsing the RESEARCHER Act. Our nation’s graduate and postdoctoral researchers often face considerable economic challenges while pursuing a career in higher education and research, and we support the goals of this legislation to address those challenges. Read the full letter:

On behalf of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and our global community of more than half a million Earth and space scientists and allies, I am writing to thank you for crafting and introducing the RESEARCHER Act and to offer AGU’s endorsement for this important bill.  

We applaud the bill’s aim of addressing financial instability for graduate and postdoctoral researchers through comprehensive data collection and development of policy guidelines for federal research agencies. Our nation’s graduate and postdoctoral researchers often face considerable economic challenges while pursuing a career in higher education and research. These challenges force many talented scientists to leave the STEM workforce and dissuade many other aspiring researchers from pursuing science at all. Understanding the factors that contribute to financial instability for student and early career researchers is critical to developing a highly qualified STEM workforce in the United States. 

As an organization committed to increasing participation in the Earth and space sciences, AGU appreciates your leadership in reducing financial hardships of graduate and postdoctoral researchers. Supporting our nation’s students and early career researchers is a welcome step toward ensuring long-term American leadership and innovation in the sciences. Given our shared interests in the goals of this legislation, we look forward to working with you as the RESEARCHER Act advances. 

See the full letter here.