Email Communication Templates

 For Postdoctoral Programs

 

The APPIC Postdoctoral Committee has developed the following email communication templates to facilitate communication between programs and applicants and to support understanding of and adherence to the APPIC Selection Standards and Common Hold Date (CHD).  These email communications are structured to remind both applicants and programs what their respective responsibilities are throughout the selection process. While it is not mandatory for programs and/or applicants to use them, both parties may find them beneficial to avoid misunderstandings.  We also encourage programs and applicants to tailor/personalize them as desired (i.e., to convey facility-specific information, to convey genuine and personalized enthusiasm about accepting or extending an offer).  

 

Making a postdoctoral offer prior to the CHD
Checking in with applicant's held offer prior to the CHD
We have filled our postdoctoral position(s)
Response to applicant checking in prior to the CHD
Checking in with applicant prior to the CHD
Rescinding for non-response on the CHD
Making a postdoctoral offer on the CHD
Official confirmation of position

 

Offers and acceptances prior to the Common Hold Date

Programs - Making a postdoctoral offer

Congratulations!  We are very pleased to offer you a position in our postdoctoral program in XXXXXX. Please respond to this email as soon as possible (and within 24 hours, excluding weekends and federal holidays), letting us know if you wish to accept, decline, or hold this offer. Our program follows the APPIC Postdoctoral Selection Standards with Common Hold Date (CHD), and we want to remind you of a few requirements, depending on whether you accept, decline or hold the offer. 

If you choose to accept the offer, please respond to this email as promptly as possible and within 24 hours, excluding weekends and federal holidays indicating your acceptance. After accepting our offer, please immediately notify all other positions for which you interviewed that you are withdrawing because you have accepted an offer. If you are currently holding another lower-ranked offer, please inform that program that you are declining their offer.  Please note that this offer is considered a binding professional agreement, and upon acceptance we expect that you will no longer pursue other training or employment opportunities. Reneging on this offer to accept another postdoctoral position or job would be considered unprofessional. 

If you choose to decline the offer, please respond to this email as soon as possible (and within 24 hours) indicating that you are declining the offer. This will allow us to offer the position to the next ranked applicant. Timely notifications are key to an effective postdoctoral selection process for all programs and applicants.  

If you choose to hold the offer, please respond to this email as soon as possible (and within 24 hours, excluding weekends and federal holidays) indicating that you want to hold the offer. In addition, consistent with the APPIC Postdoctoral Selection Standards, please explicitly indicate in your response that you are aware of and agree to the following: 

• You can hold the offer until the Common Hold Date which is 2/24/25 at 10:00 AM EST.
• You cannot hold any other offers concurrently.
• You will notify all lower-ranked programs that you are holding an offer from a higher-ranked program and are withdrawing from consideration for those programs.
• You will notify me immediately should you choose to decline this offer in favor of a more preferred offer.

Please let me know if you have any questions about the above.  The APPIC Communication Templates (for Applicant and Programs) should be very helpful in your response. Abiding by these expectations helps ensure that the national postdoctoral selection system unfolds fairly and fluidly; applicants and programs all have a part to play in facilitating an effective system.

Per the Postdoctoral Selection Standards with Common Hold Date (CHD), please note that if we do not receive a written response acknowledging this offer within 24 hours from the time the email was sent (excluding weekends and holidays), the offer can be rescinded and offered to another applicant.

Congratulations again, and we look forward to hearing from you!  

Checking in with applicant’s held offer prior to the Common Hold Date

Programs – Checking in with applicant

Per the APPIC Postdoctoral Selection Standards with Common Hold Date (CHD), I am writing to check in with you about our offer, which you are currently holding. I want to confirm that you can continue to hold the offer until the Common Hold Date which is at 10:00 AM EST on 2/24/25.  This email is not intended to pressure you to hasten your decision-making or accept our offer before the CHD. At the same time, information about when you may be able to respond to our offer would be helpful to our program (i.e., you are waiting for a higher-ranked program to update you, you are waiting to complete an interview, etc.). I do ask that you respond to this email and confirm that:

• You remain interested in the XXX postdoctoral position and wish to continue to hold the offer.
• Per the Postdoctoral Selection Standards, you are not holding any other offers for postdoctoral positions.
• You will notify us right away if you accept or hold an offer from a higher-ranked program. 

Abiding by these expectations helps ensure that the national postdoctoral selection system unfolds fairly and fluidly; applicants and programs all have a part to play in facilitating an effective system.

Please let me know if you have any questions or if there is any information I can provide that would help with your decision-making process.

Notification of filled positions prior to the Common Hold Date
 

Programs - We have filled our postdoctoral position

I am writing to let you know that we have filled our XXX postdoctoral position. We appreciate the time and effort you put into the application and interview process.  

[The following can be added if the applicant has applied to one or more tracks or programs at your site “If you have applied to another position at our site, please note that you are still under consideration for that position until you hear otherwise.”] 

We wish you the best in securing a postdoctoral position that meets your training needs and positions you well for your career.

Checking in with higher-ranked programs prior to the Common Hold Date
 

Programs - Response to an applicant who is checking in with a higher-ranked program 

Thank you for checking in with us regarding your application.

Options

• Unfortunately, we have not completed our interviews yet and cannot provide you with any additional information about your application. We anticipate that our interviews will be completed by XXX and we will begin making offers around that time. We encourage you to hold your current offer. Per the APPIC Postdoctoral Selection Standards with Common Hold Date (CHD), you should be allowed to hold your offer until the CHD which is 10:00 AM EST on 2/24/25 (or if the program is not following the Standards, we encourage you to negotiate for a hold time as close as possible to the CHD).  We can assure you that your application is still under strong consideration [only if true].
• We have made an offer for the XXX position and that offer is currently being held. Per the APPIC Postdoctoral Selection Standards with Common Hold Date (CHD) it is possible that the offer could be held until the Common Hold Date which is at 10:00 AM EST on 2/24/25, though it is also possible that the offer will be accepted or declined in advance of that. We encourage you to hold your current offer. Per the APPIC Postdoctoral Selection Standards with Common Hold Date (CHD), you should be allowed to hold your offer until the CHD which is 10:00 AM EST on 2/24/25 (or if the program is not following the Standards, we encourage you to negotiate for a hold time as close as possible to the CHD).  We can assure you that your application is still under strong consideration [only if true].  We will reach out immediately should we be able to offer you a postdoctoral position. Although not required, you are welcome to reach out to check in again. Please do let us know if you accept an offer or decide to hold an offer from a higher-ranked program than ours and are therefore withdrawing from consideration.
• We regret to inform you that the position has recently been filled, and we are in the process of notifying applicants of that fact. We appreciate the time and effort you invested in the application and interview process. We wish you the best in securing a postdoctoral position that meets your postdoctoral training needs and positions you well for your career.

Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Checking in with applicants’ continued interest prior to the Common Hold Date

Programs - Checking in with applicant

Per the APPIC Postdoctoral Selection Standards with Common Hold Date (CHD), I am writing to confirm that you have not accepted a postdoctoral position or post-internship employment and that you still wish to be considered for a postdoctoral position in our program.  I do ask that you respond to this email and confirm that:

• You remain interested in the XXX postdoctoral position
• You will notify us right away if you accept or hold an offer from a higher-ranked program 

Providing this requested information helps all of us ensure that the national postdoctoral selection system unfolds fairly and fluidly; applicants and programs all have a part to play in facilitating an effective system.

Please let me know if you have any questions or if there is any information I can provide that would help with your decision-making process.

Correspondence on the Common Hold Date 
 

Programs - Rescinding for non-response on the CHD

We have not heard from you about the postdoctoral offer you have been holding. Per the APPIC Postdoctoral Selection Standards with Common Hold Date (CHD), we are writing to let you know that we are rescinding our offer.

Programs - Making a postdoctoral offer 

Congratulations!  We are very pleased to offer you a position in our postdoctoral program in XXXXXX. Please respond to this email as soon as possible (and within 30-minutes), letting us know if you wish to accept, decline, or hold the offer.  Our program follows the APPIC Postdoctoral Selection Standards with Common Hold Date (CHD), and we want to remind you of a few requirements, depending on whether you accept, decline or hold the offer.

If you choose to accept the offer, please respond to this email as promptly as possible and within 30-minutes indicating your acceptance. After responding to this email accepting this position, please immediately notify all other positions for which you interviewed that you are withdrawing because you have accepted an offer. Please note that this offer is considered a binding professional agreement and we would expect that you will no longer pursue other employment or training opportunities following this acceptance.  Reneging on this offer to accept another postdoctoral position or job at a later date would be considered unprofessional behavior.

If you choose to decline the offer, please respond to this email as soon as possible (and within  30-minutes) indicating that you are declining the offer. This will allow us to offer a position to the next ranked applicant.  Timely notifications are key to an effective postdoctoral selection process for all programs and applicants. 

If you choose to hold the offer, please respond to this email (and within 30-minutes) indicating that you want to hold the offer.  In addition, consistent with the APPIC Postdoctoral Selection Standards with Common Hold Date (CHD), please explicitly indicate in your response that you are aware of and agree to the following:

• You can hold the offer for up to 2 hours.
• You cannot hold any other offers concurrently.
• You will notify all lower-ranked programs that you have received an offer from a higher-ranked program and are withdrawing from consideration for that program.
• You will notify me immediately should you choose to decline this offer in favor of a more preferred offer.

Please let me know if you have any questions about the above.  The APPIC Communication Templates should be very helpful in your response. Abiding by these expectations helps ensure that the national postdoctoral selection system unfolds fairly and fluidly; applicants and programs all have a part to play in facilitating an effective system.

Per the Postdoctoral Selection Standards, please note that if we do not receive a written response acknowledging this offer within 30-minutes from the time the email was sent, the offer can be rescinded and offered to another applicant.

We look forward to hearing from you!  

Programs - Official confirmation of position

This email serves as official confirmation that you were offered and accepted the XXX postdoctoral position at XXX (institution). We are extremely excited to be working with you during our postdoctoral training.

Recommended information to include:

• Start date
• Salary/benefits information
• Anything that needs to be completed prior to starting the program
• What may be required for confirming the doctoral degree or completion of degree requirements.
• Orientation info
• Statement that acceptance of the offer constitutes a binding professional agreement and that you are committed to honoring the agreement.