Doctoral fellow vs staff scientist

The differences between doctoral fellows and staff 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 staff scientist. Additionally, a staff scientist has an average salary of $93,941, 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 staff scientist are data analysis, research projects, and molecular biology.

Doctoral fellow vs staff scientist overview

	Doctoral Fellow	Staff Scientist
Yearly salary	$53,366	$93,941
Hourly rate	$25.66	$45.16
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	22,661	121,054
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 46%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	4	4

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 staff scientist do?

The primary role of a Staff Scientist is to develop and manage scientific research projects with minimal supervision. They are also responsible for the technical and budgetary aspects of scientific research projects.

Doctoral fellow vs staff scientist salary

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

	Doctoral Fellow	Staff Scientist
Average salary	$53,366	$93,941
Salary range	Between $39,000 And $72,000	Between $63,000 And $137,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Redwood City, CA
Highest paying state	Hawaii	California
Best paying company	IBM	Etsy
Best paying industry	Pharmaceutical	Technology

Differences between doctoral fellow and staff scientist education

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

	Doctoral Fellow	Staff Scientist
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 46%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	Duke University	Duke University

Doctoral fellow vs staff scientist demographics

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

	Doctoral Fellow	Staff Scientist
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 55.3% Female, 44.7%	Male, 67.8% Female, 32.2%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 26.5% White, 53.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between doctoral fellow and staff 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.

Staff scientist example responsibilities.

Lead efforts to replace a critical radioactive immunoassay with a non-radioactive format to measure clinical samples.
Manage clinical sample testing using MSD and ELISA in LIMS, including data review and approval using LIMS.
Assist in managing and maintenance of HPLC and Prep-HPLC systems to ensure maximum productivity for the process development group.
Manage pediatric dose development project, technology transfer project and alternate API supplier qualification project on budget and on schedule
Assist with RNA and DNA extractions from FFPE tissue and blood.
Supervise temps performing HPLC assays and validations during development and production campaigns under GMP conditions.

Doctoral fellow vs staff scientist skills

Common doctoral fellow skills

Patients, 8%
Cell Culture, 6%
Data Analysis, 5%
Research Projects, 5%
Cell Biology, 5%
Immunology, 5%

Common staff scientist skills

Data Analysis, 9%
Research Projects, 7%
Molecular Biology, 5%
Next-Generation Sequencing, 4%
Statistical Analysis, 4%
RNA, 4%

Doctoral Fellow vs. similar jobs

Doctoral Fellow related careers

Doctoral Fellow related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Life, Physical, and Social Science Industry
Doctoral Fellow
Doctoral Fellow vs Staff Scientist

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse life, physical, and social science jobs