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Associate research specialist vs research fellow

The differences between associate research specialists and research fellows can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become an associate research specialist, becoming a research fellow takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a research fellow has an average salary of $53,823, which is higher than the $48,302 average annual salary of an associate research specialist.

The top three skills for an associate research specialist include research projects, informed consent and data collection. The most important skills for a research fellow are patients, research projects, and data analysis.

Associate research specialist vs research fellow overview

Associate Research SpecialistResearch Fellow
Yearly salary$48,302$53,823
Hourly rate$23.22$25.88
Growth rate19%17%
Number of jobs56,83459,746
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 75%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age3741
Years of experience64

Associate research specialist vs research fellow salary

Associate research specialists and research fellows have different pay scales, as shown below.

Associate Research SpecialistResearch Fellow
Average salary$48,302$53,823
Salary rangeBetween $33,000 And $69,000Between $39,000 And $72,000
Highest paying CitySeattle, WASouth San Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateWashingtonHawaii
Best paying companySAS InstituteMcKinsey & Company Inc
Best paying industryFinanceNon Profits

Differences between associate research specialist and research fellow education

There are a few differences between an associate research specialist and a research fellow in terms of educational background:

Associate Research SpecialistResearch Fellow
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 75%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common majorBiologyChemistry
Most common collegeUniversity of Maryland - College ParkDuke University

Associate research specialist vs research fellow demographics

Here are the differences between associate research specialists' and research fellows' demographics:

Associate Research SpecialistResearch Fellow
Average age3741
Gender ratioMale, 37.4% Female, 62.6%Male, 55.3% Female, 44.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.3% Asian, 14.4% White, 64.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 27.1% White, 52.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage10%8%

Differences between associate research specialist and research fellow duties and responsibilities

Associate research specialist example responsibilities.

  • Attain and practice medical insurance information rapidly and correctly; including main carriers and Medicaid.
  • Develop an interactive mapping system which utilizes a SAS programming platform and geospatial technology.
  • Participate in a summer research intensive that provide hands-on training in interdisciplinary biomedical laboratory techniques with an emphasis in advance instrumentation.
  • Develop and implement clinical and community-base research and evaluation projects in HIV prevention, smoking interventions, and domestic violence

Research fellow example responsibilities.

  • Collaborate with software engineers to automate identification of 15N- and 13C- labele LC-MS features.
  • Process and manage GIS databases to contribute towards research in human transportation behavior.
  • Manage investigator initiate and cooperative group correlative studies to identify biomarkers to ascertain tumor burden and clinical outcomes in lymphoma.
  • Analyze quantitative and qualitative data through statistical software SAS and SPSS.
  • Conduct sampling, PCR, data analysis and oral presentations of the work
  • Implement python and C++ codes for numerical computation of transport properties in models and materials.
  • Show more

Associate research specialist vs research fellow skills

Common associate research specialist skills
  • Research Projects, 13%
  • Informed Consent, 9%
  • Data Collection, 9%
  • Laboratory Analysis, 7%
  • IRB, 7%
  • Chemistry, 5%
Common research fellow skills
  • Patients, 10%
  • Research Projects, 6%
  • Data Analysis, 5%
  • Cell Culture, 5%
  • Immunology, 4%
  • CRISPR, 4%

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