The article provides a comparative legal analysis of the status of adjuncts and graduate students, taking into account the norms of Russian legislation. The following aspects are considered: organization of the learning process, financial support, legal guarantees and social conditions of training. The main recommendations for improving the training of scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel are highlighted, which contributes to improving their professional competence. Based on the work of N.V. Kulakov updated the features related to the updating of the regulatory framework and reflecting the basic principles of the organization of postgraduate training. The key aspect in the article is the identification of the consequences of optimizing legislation, which has changed the status of adjunct (postgraduate) studies. In the modern conditions of the development of science and education, the importance of postgraduate professional education, which includes postgraduate and adjunct studies, is increasing. Both forms are important tools for training highly qualified specialists for science and practice.
training of scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel; adjunct studies; postgraduate studies; professional competencies.