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Clinical scientist vs assistant research scientist

The differences between clinical scientists and assistant research scientists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a clinical scientist, becoming an assistant research scientist takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a clinical scientist has an average salary of $122,388, which is higher than the $62,780 average annual salary of an assistant research scientist.

The top three skills for a clinical scientist include patients, informed consent and clinical operations. The most important skills for an assistant research scientist are research projects, data collection, and data analysis.

Clinical scientist vs assistant research scientist overview

Clinical ScientistAssistant Research Scientist
Yearly salary$122,388$62,780
Hourly rate$58.84$30.18
Growth rate17%17%
Number of jobs96,92388,786
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age4138
Years of experience42

What does a clinical scientist do?

A clinical scientist's duties depend on their line of work or place of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around conducting experiments and research, gathering and preparing samples such as blood and tissues, analyzing and examining specimens through different processes, reviewing data and results, and coordinating with other scientists to develop medicines or treatments. They may also train new scientists, oversee assistants' performance, and maintain order in a laboratory. Furthermore, a clinical scientist may work in hospitals, clinics, private laboratories, learning institutions, or research facilities.

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.

Clinical scientist vs assistant research scientist salary

Clinical scientists and assistant research scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Clinical ScientistAssistant Research Scientist
Average salary$122,388$62,780
Salary rangeBetween $94,000 And $157,000Between $43,000 And $89,000
Highest paying CityIndianapolis, INSan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateAlaskaMassachusetts
Best paying companyReata PharmaceuticalsUniversity of California
Best paying industryPharmaceuticalEducation

Differences between clinical scientist and assistant research scientist education

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

Clinical ScientistAssistant Research Scientist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common majorBiologyBiology
Most common collegeUniversity of Southern CaliforniaHarvard University

Clinical scientist vs assistant research scientist demographics

Here are the differences between clinical scientists' and assistant research scientists' demographics:

Clinical ScientistAssistant Research Scientist
Average age4138
Gender ratioMale, 37.0% Female, 63.0%Male, 55.6% Female, 44.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 26.3% White, 53.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%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 Percentage8%8%

Differences between clinical scientist and assistant research scientist duties and responsibilities

Clinical scientist example responsibilities.

  • Manage clinical monitors in successful completion of large international hypertension study.
  • Manage and work collaboratively with CRO management to initiate and update contract/consultancy agreements/amendments on an ongoing basis.
  • Function as member of the FDA audit preparation team in support of the filed NDA.
  • Conduct multiple HIPAA training sessions.
  • Identify grant funding opportunities and prepare scientific grant applications (NIH and non-NIH).
  • Review serious adverse event reports receive from other local country sectors for expediting to the FDA.
  • 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

Clinical scientist vs assistant research scientist skills

Common clinical scientist skills
  • Patients, 9%
  • Informed Consent, 6%
  • Clinical Operations, 5%
  • Oncology, 5%
  • Clinical Development, 5%
  • Clinical Data, 5%
Common assistant research scientist skills
  • Research Projects, 8%
  • Data Collection, 7%
  • Data Analysis, 6%
  • Lab Equipment, 4%
  • Cell Culture, 4%
  • Chemistry, 4%

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