Postdoctoral scholars (postdocs) are crucial members of the clinical and translational research workforce, often contributing to the highly collaborative projects led by their mentors (or PIs). By supporting and advancing the research of such cross-disciplinary teams, postdocs are integral to these team science efforts. Hired into term-limited positions with expectations of academic productivity, postdocs must adjust quickly to the established informational and organizational structures of their new team environments. Indeed, translational research teams juggle a constellation of information across multiple tools and contexts to manage their work (Venkatesh & Rolland, 2026). There is robust and growing literature supporting the professional development of postdocs across disciplines, emphasizing the need for skills beyond the lab, preparing for diverse career trajectories, and managing mentor-mentee relationships, with calls for institutions to holistically champion the postdoc journey. However, there remains a need to specifically understand the support required during the postdoc onboarding process, a period known from industry research for being integral to the smooth adjustment of new employees. Our study marries work on postdoc professional development with parallel research on information management in translational research teams. We seek to identify the specific onboarding needs of postdocs in clinical and translational research using an information lens.

We will present on the Information Navigation and Support during Postdoc Onboarding (INSPO) study conducted at MICHR. Our current sample includes interviews with 16 postdocs who have been in their positions ranging from 4 months to 5 years. Most postdocs in our sample were involved in collaborative projects, predominantly joining those of their PIs. We will first portray a typology of information participants either received, or would have liked to receive, during their onboarding process, spanning different contexts: within their lab environment, their department, and across the university (e.g., postdoctoral offices). For those with well-supported, positive experiences, we then highlight the formats in which information was provided and how they helped set the scholars up for success. We finally shed light on the ways in which the information received (or not received) during onboarding impacted scholars' perceptions of success and professional development.

By highlighting what postdocs wish they had known at the start of their positions, this study will underscore the importance of developing onboarding resources that help scholars hit the ground running, independent of their future career goals. Smoother onboarding will not only support individual scholars, but also strengthen the functioning, communication, and productivity of the broader research team. Thus, ensuring that postdocs have access to critical information is important for their ability to contribute as effective team scientists and to impactful science more broadly through the duration of their appointments.