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Graduate researcher vs assistant research scientist

The differences between graduate researchers and assistant research scientists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an assistant research scientist has an average salary of $62,780, which is higher than the $32,346 average annual salary of a graduate researcher.

The top three skills for a graduate researcher include R, cell culture and research projects. The most important skills for an assistant research scientist are research projects, data collection, and data analysis.

Graduate researcher vs assistant research scientist overview

Graduate ResearcherAssistant Research Scientist
Yearly salary$32,346$62,780
Hourly rate$15.55$30.18
Growth rate17%17%
Number of jobs17,31388,786
Job satisfaction3-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 73%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age4438
Years of experience-2

What does a graduate researcher do?

A graduate researcher is responsible for supporting an educational institution's academic research processes. Graduate researchers assist in data gathering and performing in-depth analysis using research methodologies under the supervision of a research professor. In some cases, graduate researchers also conduct field investigations and analyze other research publications to verify data accuracy. They prepare reports, share recommendations, and keep an organized database for research records. A graduate researcher must have excellent communication skills, both written and oral, as this task requires interaction with the researchers and writing duties.

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.

Graduate researcher vs assistant research scientist salary

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

Graduate ResearcherAssistant Research Scientist
Average salary$32,346$62,780
Salary rangeBetween $15,000 And $68,000Between $43,000 And $89,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-Massachusetts
Best paying company-University of California
Best paying industry-Education

Differences between graduate researcher and assistant research scientist education

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

Graduate ResearcherAssistant Research Scientist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 73%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common majorChemistryBiology
Most common collegeCornell UniversityHarvard University

Graduate researcher vs assistant research scientist demographics

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

Graduate ResearcherAssistant Research Scientist
Average age4438
Gender ratioMale, 57.3% Female, 42.7%Male, 55.6% Female, 44.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 17.7% Asian, 11.9% White, 53.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%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 Percentage6%8%

Differences between graduate researcher and assistant research scientist duties and responsibilities

Graduate researcher example responsibilities.

  • Lead the in-vitro biophysical and biochemical characterization of homologous recombination and investigate structure-function effects of mutant enzymes.
  • Analyze the expression of MZF-1 gene using western blots and RT-PCR.
  • Train undergraduate, masters, and PhD-level students on HPLC and UPLC instruments.
  • Use of NMR, IR, and TLC to analyze product purity and identity.
  • Experience using GC/MS, LC/MS, and NMR to analyze molecules produce in the lab.
  • Create buffers, HPLC solvents, maintain laboratory notebooks, order chemical reagents and perform serial dilutions.
  • 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

Graduate researcher vs assistant research scientist skills

Common graduate researcher skills
  • R, 9%
  • Cell Culture, 8%
  • Research Projects, 6%
  • Protein Expression, 5%
  • Chemistry, 4%
  • Data Analysis, 4%
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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