For Postdoctoral Research Fellows and Scientists

Columbia University Irving Medical Center offers housing to full-time postdoctoral research fellows and full-time postdoctoral research scientists on both our campus and at Columbia's Morningside location through a monthly lottery, held around the 15th of each month. The lottery is subject to apartment availability.

If you are a current postdoc or a new postdoc with a start date no more than six weeks after the lottery, you may participate. Studio apartments will be offered to postdocs with single status and one-bedroom apartments to postdocs who are married or in a domestic partnership. Housing may be available at 390 Fort Washington Ave. or at various locations throughout the Morningside campus. You may choose the location of your housing based on your lottery ranking and room availability.

To join the lottery:

  1. Submit a completed postdoctoral housing application, and
  2. Send a letter from your departmental administrator or sponsor that lists your title and appointment dates to housingservices@cumc.columbia.edu.

Apply for PostDoc on-campus housing

Eligibility Guidelines

  • Only full-time postdoctoral research fellows and full-time postdoctoral research scientists are eligible. Postdoctoral clinical fellows are ineligible for Columbia University housing.
  • Postdocs are limited to Columbia University housing for a period of either five years or the duration of their postdoctoral appointment, whichever is shorter. This includes the amount of time that you may have been employed as a postdoctoral research fellow or postdoctoral research scientist in any Columbia University division.
  • If you have a change in position within the five-year housing limit and your non-postdoctoral title is still eligible for University housing, you will be allowed to remain in University housing for either one year or the original maximum of five years, whichever is shorter.
  • Postdocs who become ineligible for housing due to a change from a full-time to a part-time appointment or to an ineligible title will not have their lease renewed. Instead, you will have a three-month grace period to either find alternate off-campus housing or return to work full-time with an eligible title. During this three-month period, you will continue to pay rent at the same rate.

Contact our office at housingservices@cumc.columbia.edu or 212-304-7008 for more information.

Application Process

Housing will be allocated based upon the current address of the applicant, in the following order:

  • Incoming postdocs who are international, and to incoming postdocs who must vacate their current University housing.
  • Incoming and current postdocs who live within commuting distance of CUIMC but do not live in Manhattan.
  • Incoming and current postdocs already living in Manhattan
  • Postdocs currently living in University housing who want to transfer from once campus to the other.

We will email lottery winners in order of their selection to inform them of the housing assignment. Please respond within 48 hours to accept or decline the housing assignment. Failure to respond within that timeframe will lead to the cancelation of your assignment. If you decline your assignment, you may choose to remain in the lottery for one month.

If you find alternate housing, notify us so we can remove your application from the lottery.