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Contract research scientist vs doctoral fellow

The differences between contract research scientists and doctoral fellows can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a contract research scientist and a doctoral fellow. Additionally, a contract research scientist has an average salary of $90,721, which is higher than the $53,366 average annual salary of a doctoral fellow.

The top three skills for a contract research scientist include analytical techniques, R and HPLC. The most important skills for a doctoral fellow are patients, cell culture, and data analysis.

Contract research scientist vs doctoral fellow overview

Contract Research ScientistDoctoral Fellow
Yearly salary$90,721$53,366
Hourly rate$43.62$25.66
Growth rate17%17%
Number of jobs93,12422,661
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 76%Doctoral Degree, 46%
Average age4141
Years of experience44

Contract research scientist vs doctoral fellow salary

Contract research scientists and doctoral fellows have different pay scales, as shown below.

Contract Research ScientistDoctoral Fellow
Average salary$90,721$53,366
Salary rangeBetween $61,000 And $132,000Between $39,000 And $72,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-Hawaii
Best paying company-IBM
Best paying industry-Pharmaceutical

Differences between contract research scientist and doctoral fellow education

There are a few differences between a contract research scientist and a doctoral fellow in terms of educational background:

Contract Research ScientistDoctoral Fellow
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 76%Doctoral Degree, 46%
Most common majorBiologyChemistry
Most common collegeUniversity of Southern CaliforniaDuke University

Contract research scientist vs doctoral fellow demographics

Here are the differences between contract research scientists' and doctoral fellows' demographics:

Contract Research ScientistDoctoral Fellow
Average age4141
Gender ratioMale, 47.2% Female, 52.8%Male, 55.3% Female, 44.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 26.5% White, 53.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 32.9% White, 47.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage8%8%

Differences between contract research scientist and doctoral fellow duties and responsibilities

Contract research scientist example responsibilities.

  • Manage the development of innovative visualization and concept mapping of contest environment analysis challenges and analyst skill sets.
  • Test 50 breast expanders and submit results for FDA 5-10k approval.
  • Perform solution and standard prep, Agilent HPLC impurities identification, dissolution assay using VanKel (USP App.
  • Develop, validate and implement robust methods for pharmacokinetic, immunogenicity (ADA) and immunodepletion ELISAs, and cell based-bioassays.
  • Interpret metabolism data and review reports to support strategies forward thinking with a specialization in drug metabolism and metabolic enzymes.

Doctoral fellow example responsibilities.

  • Lead the in-vitro biophysical and biochemical characterization of homologous recombination and investigate structure-function effects of mutant enzymes.
  • Attend courses in drug discovery, python programming, and next-generation sequencing analyses.
  • Coordinate the validation of data aquisition algorithms (C++, python) for all real and simulate data.
  • Conduct custom synthesis of organic molecules, key intermediates and building blocks for medicinal chemistry applications.
  • Design PCL/PLCL drug delivery system for DC immunotherapy.
  • Succeed in using CRISPR to genetically correct diseas iPSCs.
  • Show more

Contract research scientist vs doctoral fellow skills

Common contract research scientist skills
  • Analytical Techniques, 24%
  • R, 22%
  • HPLC, 15%
  • Analytical Support, 14%
  • Harvest, 13%
  • Data Analysis, 5%
Common doctoral fellow skills
  • Patients, 8%
  • Cell Culture, 6%
  • Data Analysis, 5%
  • Research Projects, 5%
  • Cell Biology, 5%
  • Immunology, 5%

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