Frequently Asked Questions
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USP is an authoritative public standards-setting organization that assures the quality, safety, and benefit of medicines and foods in the United States and around the world.
The USP Council of Experts and its Expert Committees are the scientific decision-making body of USP. Members of the Council of Experts are elected by the USP Convention membership at its every-five-year meeting and serve as chairs of USP Expert Committees.
Expert Committees address specific standards-setting areas within USP such as Chemical Medicines, Biologics and Biotechnology, General Chapters, and others. Expert Committee members are elected by the Council of Experts.
Expert Panels are formed to provide additional expertise on a particular compendial topic, thereby supplementing Expert Committee expertise. Expert Panels are intended to provide flexibility and scalability into USP's standards-setting activities, and help ensure that USP standards are based on the best scientific knowledge available. They are advisory to one or more Expert Committees; they are not decision-making bodies.
An Expert Panel, when formed, will have a specific charge (including scope of work, deliverables, and timeline for completion), and will be dissolved at the conclusion of its work. As such, USP calls for Expert Panel candidates as the need for such bodies arises.
The USP Council of Experts and its Expert Committees are responsible for developing and revising standards for medicines and foods that appear in the United States Pharmacopeia and the National Formulary (USP–NF), the Food Chemicals Codex, the Dietary Supplements Compendium, USP on Compounding, and the Herbal Medicines Compendium.
Members of the Council of Experts and its Expert Committee develop and review monographs, general chapters, testing methods, and reference materials, and collaborate on scientific topics supporting the standards that appear in USP's compendia.
The average hours spent per week on USP activities - Expert Committee member spends approximately 3.5 hours and Expert Committe Chair spends approximately 5 hours. Expert Committees are expected to attend 1-2 hybrid collaborative meetings per fiscal year, and 3 in-person collaborative meeting at USP Headquarters in Maryland and its international sites in Brazil, China, or India per 5-year cycle. In addition, teleconferences held as needed for official meetings and working sessions.
While each Expert Committee requires specific expertise in either analytical chemistry, analytical biochemistry, measurement science, food and dietary supplement science, or other applied sciences, candidates should have advanced degrees (doctoral degrees or the equivalent based on extensive experience), and should be actively working in related scientific and/or regulatory disciplines. A complete list of expertise sought is included in the Expert Committees Chart.
The USP Nominating Committee for the Council of Experts will nominate two qualified candidates to stand for election as chair of each Expert Committee at the May 2025 USP Convention. Those candidates elected by the USP Convention Membership will serve as chairs of the Expert Committees and members of the Council of Experts. The Council of Experts will elect Expert Committee members.
The term of service for the Council of Experts is five years. The term of service for Expert Committees is up to five years.
Expert Panel terms vary, from 12 months to the full five-year term or longer.
Maintaining independence and impartiality is critical to the integrity and credibility of USP’s standard-setting activities. Members of the Council of Experts and its Expert Committees are required to submit and keep updated statements disclosing interests that may create actual or perceived conflicts of interests and must abstain from voting on any matter in which they have a conflict. Members of Expert Panels are also required to disclose any actual or perceived conflicts, but Expert Panels may represent an outside interest as long as it is disclosed.
USP also has a confidentiality policy to protect third party confidentiality obligations, maintain the confidentiality of proprietary information and prevent the premature disclosure of a standard. Expert Volunteers must agree to maintain the confidentiality of all information gained in the course of their USP activities and not to use or disclose such information for any purpose, unless already publicly available.
The membership of each USP Expert Committee varies according to its responsibilities. USP strives for a balance of industry (including from innovator, generic, and over-the-counter company, laboratory, etc.), academia, health care practitioner, regulatory, and independent experts to comprise its Expert Committees, but will seek the most qualified volunteer experts regardless of organizational affiliation. USP also strives for a mix of U.S. and international experts to reflect the global use of USP’s standards.
USP creates and continuously revises standards through a unique public–private collaborative process, which involves interested industry stakeholders, the government, and other interested parties from anywhere in the world. The standards may originate from pharmaceutical manufacturers or other sponsors or from USP's own laboratory network. USP's scientific staff and volunteer experts review this material, conduct additional laboratory tests as necessary, and ensure that the information is subject to a process of public review and comment. The public process helps to refine and finalize this information for publication in the USP–NF, FCC, or other USP compendium. USP Expert Committees make the final decisions to approve and publish the standards.
Expert Panels are formed solely to advise one or more Expert Committee on scientific and technical matters for which the Expert Committee does not have sufficient expertise. Expert Panels usually meet and address the issues, then form recommendations to the Expert Committee. The Expert Committee has final decisional authority on any recommendation of an Expert Panel.
Each Expert Committee and Expert Panel is overseen by a member of USP's senior scientific staff, usually within the Global Science and Standards Division, under the leadership of the Chief Science Officer, and Global Alliances and Organizational Affairs, which includes the Healthcare Quality Standards group and Executive Secretariat functions. Support for Expert Committees includes a Scientific Liaison, Reference Standards Scientist, and an Expert Committee Manager.
All Council of Expert, Expert Committee and Expert Panel members must have access to a computer and the Internet in order to serve as a USP Expert Volunteer.
Roles and Positions
On the Be an Expert Volunteer home page, click the Apply Now at the top of the page to view a listing of open positions.
Click the listing hyperlink to apply for that position.
While there are no limitations on the number of positions you may apply, we recommend that you apply only for positions that best match your qualifications and areas of expertise. To help guide your interests, after you apply for one position the system will recommend to you a list of positions that best match your areas of expertise.
Application Status
You can view the current status of your application at any time by logging into the application - sign in here.
Yes. You may decline a position after you have accepted it by contacting uspvolunteers@usp.org.
Note: It is preferred that you withdraw your application as soon as you determine that you are unable or unwilling to participate as a USP volunteer.
Once you have accepted a position and USP staff has converted you in the system to an expert volunteer, you will then progress to the Onboarding phase. You will receive materials that will help you become familiar with your new role and responsibilities.
The Onboarding also signifies that you can now access the Council of Experts (CoE) Portal to view ballots and to cast your vote on a monograph.