How To Become A Doctoral Fellow: What It Is and Career Path

What is a doctoral fellow and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Betsy Smith

Doctoral fellows, though studying, still research their area of study. They are usually contracted by universities. They do not only engage in research work. They also teach while taking classes themselves. Sometimes, a doctorate fellow could be a physician that has completed his/her studies but receives a fellowship to cover expenses while completing his/her medical dissertation.

The roles of a doctoral fellow include publishing scientific results in top journals, investigating the mechanism of anti-cancer molecules in eliminating cancer cells. Also, performing chemical research is a task for a doctorate fellow. One prerequisite to qualify for this role is a master's degree in your area of study. Excellent presentation skill is also highly recommended. You should earn an average of $50,416 annually.

What general advice would you give to a doctoral fellow?

Dr. Betsy Smith

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Elmira College

I would advise students just graduating to be flexible and open-minded in their job search. Chemistry is a challenging major, and students who succeed in it have learned how to learn, so they shouldn't assume that pure chemistry is the only thing they can do. One growing field is biomedical research, and chemistry majors are often qualified for jobs in that area. If you have other strengths, like writing, there are often jobs that can combine them as a technical writer or work for a science journal. There are jobs out there that might be perfect for you that you haven't heard of until you see an ad for it, so be open to different possibilities.

ScoreDoctoral FellowUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $53,366

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.3

Growth rate 17%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.15%

Asian 32.86%

Black or African American 6.12%

Hispanic or Latino 9.29%

Unknown 4.02%

White 47.56%

Gender

female 44.67%

male 55.33%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

6.3

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a doctoral fellow

Explore doctoral fellow education requirements

Most common doctoral fellow degrees

Doctorate

46.4 %

Bachelor's

36.6 %

Master's

16.0 %

Start to develop specific doctoral fellow skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	7.78%
Cell Culture	5.80%
Data Analysis	4.92%
Research Projects	4.80%
Cell Biology	4.57%

Complete relevant doctoral fellow training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New doctoral fellows learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a doctoral fellow based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real doctoral fellow resumes.

Research doctoral fellow duties and 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.

Prepare your doctoral fellow resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your doctoral fellow resume.

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