Chemistry laboratory assistant vs research laboratory technician

The differences between chemistry laboratory assistants and research laboratory technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a chemistry laboratory assistant, becoming a research laboratory technician takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a research laboratory technician has an average salary of $38,308, 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 a research laboratory technician are patients, chemistry, and laboratory equipment.

Chemistry laboratory assistant vs research laboratory technician overview

	Chemistry Laboratory Assistant	Research Laboratory Technician
Yearly salary	$30,971	$38,308
Hourly rate	$14.89	$18.42
Growth rate	4%	9%
Number of jobs	40,180	86,476
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age	44	40
Years of experience	2	4

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 a research laboratory technician do?

Research laboratory technicians play a vital role in scientific laboratories. They perform varied duties and responsibilities, which include setting up, operating, and maintaining the laboratory equipment, assisting in laboratory-based research activities such as sampling, testing, and analyzing results, and providing technical support to the laboratory team members. In addition, they are expected to support the development and advancement of science and modern medicine. Other typical duties of research laboratory technicians include preparing samples and specimens, keeping abreast with current technical developments, and ensuring strict compliance with safety procedures.

Chemistry laboratory assistant vs research laboratory technician salary

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

	Chemistry Laboratory Assistant	Research Laboratory Technician
Average salary	$30,971	$38,308
Salary range	Between $16,000 And $58,000	Between $30,000 And $48,000
Highest paying City	Hartford, CT	Chicago, IL
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	Illinois
Best paying company	Pace University	Accenture
Best paying industry	Education	Manufacturing

Differences between chemistry laboratory assistant and research laboratory technician education

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

	Chemistry Laboratory Assistant	Research Laboratory Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common major	Chemistry	Biology
Most common college	Stanford University	Cornell University

Chemistry laboratory assistant vs research laboratory technician demographics

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

	Chemistry Laboratory Assistant	Research Laboratory Technician
Average age	44	40
Gender ratio	Male, 45.5% Female, 54.5%	Male, 49.0% Female, 51.0%
Race ratio	Black 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, 12.3% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.5% Asian, 15.7% White, 49.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.5%
LGBT Percentage	9%	6%

Differences between chemistry laboratory assistant and research laboratory technician 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.

Research laboratory technician example responsibilities.

Manage RT-PCR screening of candidate genes.
Manage the development of innovative visualization and concept mapping of contest environment analysis challenges and analyst skill sets.
Use many scientific techniques to collect and analyze RNA, DNA, and specific proteins from lines of potato plants.
Preform computational molecular simulation of DNA and RNA.
Retain patients from previous research projects and update database using patient histories and correlating pertinent medical data.
Work with non human primates in an HIV testing laboratory.

Chemistry laboratory assistant vs research laboratory technician 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 research laboratory technician skills

Patients, 9%
Chemistry, 7%
Laboratory Equipment, 7%
Cell Culture, 5%
Research Data, 4%
Research Projects, 4%

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Chemistry Laboratory Assistant
Chemistry Laboratory Assistant vs Research Laboratory Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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