Appointment
When a faculty member identifies a candidate for a postdoctoral position, the department staff initiates the process by which a postdoctoral appointment is recommended. A faculty member typically makes a verbal offer to a candidate before commencing a formal appointment process.
The appointment process entails the candidate providing his or her demographic, personal and academic information online. The candidate is expected to respond to the offer online; a PDF version of the offer letter would be available outlining the terms and conditions of the appointment. The appointment recommendation then proceeds to the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs for review and final University approval. All documents provided to Stanford must be in English.
Candidates are required to have received their doctoral degree by the first day of their appointment at Stanford. To facilitate processing, approval may be granted by the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs while the degree conferral is pending, with a letter of completion issued by a Registrar or equivalent that confirms all degree requirements have been met and the expected degree conferral date. If the doctoral degree is not formally completed by the start date of the appointment, the postdoctoral appointment may not start. A Visiting Student Researcher appointment would be the appropriate status for the candidate at Stanford until the doctoral degree is conferred.