Postdoctoral Scholar Orientation

Orientation for New UC Davis Postdocs

Welcome to UC Davis! Thank you for choosing us for this next step in your academic journey.

There are two very important orientation videos below, one to help you familiarize yourself to UC Davis and our postdoc services, and the other to help you understand your employee benefits as a postdoc. 

Please watch our orientation video for an overview of our campus, how to get started in your position, and the services available to you. You can also download the slides from this video to follow along or access the hyperlinks mentioned.

General Orientation to UC Davis campuses

Housing

Perhaps the most urgent need arriving postdocs and scholars have is locating housing. The above video present options for seeking housing. In addition, you may need to arrange temporary housing if you still need time to find housing or if you arrive before the start of your lease. Please see the SISS page on Temporary Housing for information. 

Postdoc Benefits Orientation

Please be sure to also access the Postdoctoral Scholar Benefits Program video from UC Davis Human Resources to learn about your choices in employee benefits, such as health/dental/vision insurance. UC Davis Human Resources is the unit that manages benefits for our postdoctoral scholars. If you have questions about employee benefits, please email benefits@ucdavis.edu. Additionally, UC Davis Human Resources offers a weekly zoom help desk to answer your benefits questions.

The University provides a new childcare reimbursement benefit for postdocs.  Details can be found at the Benefit page linked above.

In addition to health and welfare benefits, UC Davis also supports work-life balance through a range of programs for physical and mental well-being and for family care. 

In accordance with the collective bargaining agreement, attendance at the new Postdoctoral Scholar Orientation is mandatory and shall be attended on paid time.

Upcoming in-person UAW-5810 Postdoctoral Orientations are scheduled as follows:  

Location: Walker Hall, West Conference Room 1230

Postdoc Community and Networking

Once you have arrived at UCD, please plan to attend our monthly in-person Meet & Greet events that connect incoming and continuing postdocs with resource staff and networking opportunities. In addition to welcoming new postdocs and providing a monthly venue for networking and feedback, we host monthly resource unit presentations to connect postdocs to all that UC Davis has to offer.

UC Davis is proud to be an institutional member of the National Postdoctoral Association! As a result, all UC Davis Postdocs are entitled to free individual affiliate membership in the National Postdoctoral Association - please establish your account using your UC Davis email address in order to be eligible.