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Doctoral fellow vs senior scientist

The differences between doctoral fellows and senior scientists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a doctoral fellow and a senior scientist. Additionally, a senior scientist has an average salary of $106,672, which is higher than the $53,366 average annual salary of a doctoral fellow.

The top three skills for a doctoral fellow include patients, cell culture and data analysis. The most important skills for a senior scientist are patients, data analysis, and molecular biology.

Doctoral fellow vs senior scientist overview

Doctoral FellowSenior Scientist
Yearly salary$53,366$106,672
Hourly rate$25.66$51.28
Growth rate17%17%
Number of jobs22,66149,712
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeDoctoral Degree, 46%Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Average age4141
Years of experience44

What does a doctoral fellow do?

A doctoral fellow is a physician that has completed studies and receives a fellowship to cover his/her or her expenses while completing his/her or her medical dissertation. A doctor fellow undergoes this fellowship to get additional training for their chosen sub-specialty. During the fellowship period, a fellow can act as an attending physician or consultant physician with other physicians' direct supervision in the sub-specialty field.

What does a senior scientist do?

A senior scientist is usually in charge of overseeing experiments and evaluating junior scientists' performance, especially in laboratory settings. Moreover, it is also their responsibility to assess every progress report to ensure it's accuracy and validity. As a senior scientist in the field, it is essential to lead and encourage fellow scientists in their joint pursuit for scientific innovations, all while adhering to the laboratory's standards and policies.

Doctoral fellow vs senior scientist salary

Doctoral fellows and senior scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Doctoral FellowSenior Scientist
Average salary$53,366$106,672
Salary rangeBetween $39,000 And $72,000Between $74,000 And $153,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CARedwood City, CA
Highest paying stateHawaiiCalifornia
Best paying companyIBMBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Best paying industryPharmaceuticalTelecommunication

Differences between doctoral fellow and senior scientist education

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

Doctoral FellowSenior Scientist
Most common degreeDoctoral Degree, 46%Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Most common majorChemistryChemistry
Most common collegeDuke UniversityDuke University

Doctoral fellow vs senior scientist demographics

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

Doctoral FellowSenior Scientist
Average age4141
Gender ratioMale, 55.3% Female, 44.7%Male, 70.1% Female, 29.9%
Race ratioBlack 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%Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 26.9% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage8%8%

Differences between doctoral fellow and senior scientist duties and responsibilities

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

Senior scientist example responsibilities.

  • Lead the development and implementation of new technology for use in NMR applications.
  • Strategize and manage the PK/PD program with internal collaborations including chemistry, DMPK, formulation and toxicology.
  • Lead a team and develop a 24-channel GC parallel separation system for high throughput screening of catalysts.
  • Lead a team of 11 direct reports and 35 indirect reports to solve development problems for multicapillary electrophoresis instruments.
  • Influence and impact others through building and maintaining strong networks that are leverage to obtain critical information and accomplish objectives.
  • Manage collaborations with external CROs.
  • Show more

Doctoral fellow vs senior scientist skills

Common doctoral fellow skills
  • Patients, 8%
  • Cell Culture, 6%
  • Data Analysis, 5%
  • Research Projects, 5%
  • Cell Biology, 5%
  • Immunology, 5%
Common senior scientist skills
  • Patients, 11%
  • Data Analysis, 6%
  • Molecular Biology, 3%
  • Research Projects, 3%
  • C++, 3%
  • Java, 3%

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