SAP Metadata Portal

The Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR) provides demographic, education, and career history information from individuals with a U.S. research doctoral degree in a science, engineering, or health (SEH) field. The SDR is sponsored by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics and by the National Institutes of Health. Conducted since 1993, the SDR is a unique source of information about the educational and occupational achievements and career movement of U.S.-trained doctoral scientists and engineers in the United States and abroad.

NCSES is updating their data linkage policy to better meet the data linkage needs of NCSES and external researchers. Currently, NCSES does not support researcher access to direct Personally Identifiable Information (PII). NCSES encourages researchers interested in developing an SAP application that includes linking NCSES restricted data to non-NCSES data sources to contact NCSES at NCSES_Licensing@nsf.gov to assess feasibility and appropriateness.

This dataset is available through the NCSES Secure Data Access Facility (SDAF), a virtual enclave that can only be accessed within the United States.

Data Access

Fees

Usage restrictions

SDR restricted-use data must be used for statistical purposes and cannot be used for purposes of enforcing laws or regulations or for profit.

Public Use File available

Yes

Summary of differences

Includes educational institution identifiers for degrees earned and state-level identifiers for residency and employer location, which are not available on the PUF. RUF includes additional detail for various variables including demographic characteristics and degree fields. Values of salary and income are rounded and top-coded on the PUF.

Geography differs from restricted-use file (RUF)

Yes

Variable detail differs from Restricted Use File (RUF)

Yes

Survey of Doctorate Recipients

Description

Data Access