Post job

Chemistry laboratory assistant vs assistant research scientist

The differences between chemistry laboratory assistants and assistant research scientists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a chemistry laboratory assistant and an assistant research scientist. Additionally, an assistant research scientist has an average salary of $62,780, which is higher than the $30,971 average annual salary of a chemistry laboratory assistant.

The top three skills for a chemistry laboratory assistant include lab equipment, lab safety and chemistry lab. The most important skills for an assistant research scientist are research projects, data collection, and data analysis.

Chemistry laboratory assistant vs assistant research scientist overview

Chemistry Laboratory AssistantAssistant Research Scientist
Yearly salary$30,971$62,780
Hourly rate$14.89$30.18
Growth rate4%17%
Number of jobs40,18088,786
Job satisfaction5-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 75%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age4438
Years of experience22

What does a chemistry laboratory assistant do?

Chemical Laboratory Assistants are professionals who help researchers and scientists in performing lab experiments and tests. Their tasks involve the maintenance, cleanliness, or sterilization of laboratory equipment or instruments. They perform physical or chemical laboratory tests assisting scientists in the quantitative or qualitative analyses of liquids, gaseous materials, and solids. The necessary skills and knowledge for this job include chemistry, lab reporting, chemical solutions, and safety procedures.

What does an assistant research scientist do?

An Assistant Research Scientist assists in planning, conducting, and analyzing various research projects. They also order and manage lab inventory, materials, and equipment.

Chemistry laboratory assistant vs assistant research scientist salary

Chemistry laboratory assistants and assistant research scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Chemistry Laboratory AssistantAssistant Research Scientist
Average salary$30,971$62,780
Salary rangeBetween $16,000 And $58,000Between $43,000 And $89,000
Highest paying CityHartford, CTSan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateRhode IslandMassachusetts
Best paying companyPace UniversityUniversity of California
Best paying industryEducationEducation

Differences between chemistry laboratory assistant and assistant research scientist education

There are a few differences between a chemistry laboratory assistant and an assistant research scientist in terms of educational background:

Chemistry Laboratory AssistantAssistant Research Scientist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 75%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common majorChemistryBiology
Most common collegeStanford UniversityHarvard University

Chemistry laboratory assistant vs assistant research scientist demographics

Here are the differences between chemistry laboratory assistants' and assistant research scientists' demographics:

Chemistry Laboratory AssistantAssistant Research Scientist
Average age4438
Gender ratioMale, 45.5% Female, 54.5%Male, 55.6% Female, 44.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 9.5% White, 62.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 6.0% Hispanic or Latino, 15.3% Asian, 16.7% White, 52.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage9%8%

Differences between chemistry laboratory assistant and assistant research scientist duties and responsibilities

Chemistry laboratory assistant example responsibilities.

  • Comfort frighten patients and maintain an exceptionally bright professional demeanor to accomplish a procedure that makes most people very uncomfortable.
  • Prepare buffer solutions, separate DNA, dissect baby mice, and perform general lab procedures.
  • Facilitate placement and organization of equipment for new laboratory including HPLC, GC-MS, UV-VIS, and DSC.
  • Maintain GC/FID, GC/MS and LC/MS systems.
  • Purify total RNA out of scallop muscle tissue.
  • Maintain proper records and documentation of DNA sequencing products.
  • Show more

Assistant research scientist example responsibilities.

  • Lead a group of four employees in optimizing DNA purification technologies for production DNA sequencing.
  • Evaluate patients' study eligibility via medical history, obtain informed consent, enroll patients, and achieve enrollment quotas.
  • Experience in SAS programming in biomedical research.
  • Prepare salivary samples for Cortisol ELISA assays.
  • Gather and code quantitative and qualitative data using SPSS and Atlas.ti.
  • Standardize assays to elucidate the mechanism of action of lead molecules.
  • Show more

Chemistry laboratory assistant vs assistant research scientist skills

Common chemistry laboratory assistant skills
  • Lab Equipment, 39%
  • Lab Safety, 13%
  • Chemistry Lab, 6%
  • Lab Experiments, 4%
  • Lab Reports, 3%
  • Analytical Chemistry, 2%
Common assistant research scientist skills
  • Research Projects, 8%
  • Data Collection, 7%
  • Data Analysis, 6%
  • Lab Equipment, 4%
  • Cell Culture, 4%
  • Chemistry, 4%

Browse life, physical, and social science jobs