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Post-doctoral scientist education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
There are several educational requirements to become a post-doctoral scientist. Post-doctoral scientists usually study biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology, chemistry, or biology. 46% of post-doctoral scientists hold a doctoral degree, and 40% hold an bachelor's degree. We analyzed 676 real post-doctoral scientist resumes to see exactly what post-doctoral scientist education sections show.
The most common colleges for post-doctoral scientists are the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of California, Santa Barbara.
There are also many online post-doctoral scientist courses to help get the education required to be a post-doctoral scientist.
What education do you need to become a post-doctoral scientist?
What degree do you need to be a post-doctoral scientist?
- Doctorate, 46%
- Bachelor's, 40%
- Master's, 12%
- Diploma, 0%
- Other Degrees, 2%
What should I major in to become a post-doctoral scientist?
Most common colleges for post-doctoral scientists
| Post-doctoral scientist common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| University of California, Santa Barbara | 10.98% |
| Cornell University | 7.32% |
| University of Florida | 6.10% |
| University of Kentucky | 6.10% |
| University of Washington | 6.10% |
Best majors for post-doctoral scientists
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Biochemistry, Biophysics, Molecular Biology | 18.1% |
| 2 | Chemistry | 17.7% |
| 3 | Biology | 14.9% |
| 4 | Physics | 7.6% |
| 5 | Microbiology | 5.1% |
Best colleges for post-doctoral scientists
The best colleges for post-doctoral scientists are Harvard University, Duke University, and Columbia University in the City of New York.
A post-doctoral scientist with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for post-doctoral scientists. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become post-doctoral scientists.
1. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$55,695
Enrollment
6,596
2. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$56,225
Enrollment
19,548
3. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
In-state tuition
$50,420
Enrollment
7,582
4. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
In-state tuition
$15,262
Enrollment
30,079
5. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$59,430
Enrollment
8,216
6. University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$13,226
Enrollment
31,568
7. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$8,987
Enrollment
18,946
8. Yale University
New Haven, CT • Private
In-state tuition
$53,430
Enrollment
5,963
9. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
In-state tuition
$53,740
Enrollment
5,567
10. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
In-state tuition
$49,816
Enrollment
6,840
20 best online courses for post-doctoral scientists
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1. Experimental Methods in Systems Biology
Learn about the technologies underlying experimentation used in systems biology, with particular focus on RNA sequencing, mass spec-based proteomics, flow/mass cytometry and live-cell imaging. A key driver of the systems biology field is the technology allowing us to delve deeper and wider into how cells respond to experimental perturbations. This in turns allows us to build more detailed quantitative models of cellular function, which can give important insight into applications ranging from...
2. FEM - Linear, Nonlinear Analysis & Post-Processing
In this hands-on project, you will learn about the Finite Element Method (FEM) and perform a linear & nonlinear static analysis study using the cloud-based simulation tool SimScale. We will set up simulation cases with provided geometries to learn the fundamentals of the Finite Element Method and how a static linear and nonlinear analysis is approached in the first place. We will walk through the classical three step process of every simulation which includes the pre-processing, processing and...
3. Cancer Biology 101
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How to analyse and model business data requirements...
5. Plant Bioinformatics
The past 15 years have been exciting ones in plant biology. Hundreds of plant genomes have been sequenced, RNA-seq has enabled transcriptome-wide expression profiling, and a proliferation of "-seq"-based methods has permitted protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions to be determined cheaply and in a high-throughput manner. These data sets in turn allow us to generate hypotheses at the click of a mouse. For instance, knowing where and when a gene is expressed can help us narrow down the...
6. Cancer Biology
The healthcare system is a rapidly evolving field with new research leading to advancements in medicine. Developed at Johns Hopkins University and led by top-ranked Hopkins faculty and cancer experts, this specialization on Cancer Biology focuses on the basics of cancer biology, how cancer metastasis occurs, and specifically, screening guidelines for prostate cancer, the most common cancer in American men.\n\nThis specialization starts with an Introduction to the Biology of Cancer, introduces...
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10. The Data Scientist’s Toolbox
In this course you will get an introduction to the main tools and ideas in the data scientist's toolbox. The course gives an overview of the data, questions, and tools that data analysts and data scientists work with. There are two components to this course. The first is a conceptual introduction to the ideas behind turning data into actionable knowledge. The second is a practical introduction to the tools that will be used in the program like version control, markdown, git, GitHub, R, and...
11. General Biology I: Foundations of Biology
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Master One of the Most In-Demand Skills for Data Analysts in 2020!...
13. Der Werkzeugkasten des Data Scientist
In this course you will get an introduction to the main tools and ideas in the data scientist's toolbox. The course gives an overview of the data, questions, and tools that data analysts and data scientists work with. There are two components to this course. The first is a conceptual introduction to the ideas behind turning data into actionable knowledge. The second is a practical introduction to the tools that will be used in the program like version control, markdown, git, GitHub, R, and...
14. Microsoft Azure Data Scientist Associate (DP-100)
This Professional Certificate is intended for data scientists with existing knowledge of Python and machine learning frameworks like Scikit-Learn, PyTorch, and Tensorflow, who want to build and operate machine learning solutions in the cloud. This Professional Certificate teaches learners how to create end-to-end solutions in Microsoft Azure. They will learn how to manage Azure resources for machine learning; run experiments and train models; deploy and operationalize machine learning...
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16. Data Analysis Real world use-cases- Hands on Python
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17. AI for Scientific Research
In the AI for Scientific Research specialization, we'll learn how to use AI in scientific situations to discover trends and patterns within datasets. Course 1 teaches a little bit about the Python language as it relates to data science. We'll share some existing libraries to help analyze your datasets. By the end of the course, you'll apply a classification model to predict the presence or absence of heart disease from a patient's health data. Course 2 covers the complete machine learning...
18. Plant Bioinformatics Capstone
The past 15 years have been exciting ones in plant biology. Hundreds of plant genomes have been sequenced, RNA-seq has enabled transcriptome-wide expression profiling, and a proliferation of "-seq"-based methods has permitted protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions to be determined cheaply and in a high-throughput manner. These data sets in turn allow us to generate hypotheses at the click of a mouse or tap of a finger. In Plant Bioinformatics on Coursera.org, we covered 33 plant-specific...
19. Chemical Biology
Chemical biology is a burgeoning field that has rapidly risen to prominence. This surge of interest has been fuelled by chemical biology’s applicability to understanding critical processes in live cells or model organisms in real time. This success has arisen because chemical biology straddles a nexus between chemistry, biology, and physics. Thus, chemical biology can harness rapid chemistry to observe or perturb biological processes, that are in turn reported using physical assays, all in an...
20. Understanding Prostate Cancer
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Top 10 most affordable universities for post-doctoral scientists
The most affordable schools for post-doctoral scientists are University of Florida, hunter college of the city university of new york, and california state university - long beach.
If the best universities for post-doctoral scientists are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for post-doctoral scientists.
1. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,381
Cost of attendance
21,034
2. Hunter College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,182
Cost of attendance
13,998
3. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Cost of attendance
18,306
4. Brigham Young University
Provo, UT • Private
In-state tuition
$5,620
Cost of attendance
18,136
5. California State University - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,749
Cost of attendance
14,823
6. California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,886
Cost of attendance
17,645
7. University of South Florida
Tampa, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,410
Cost of attendance
20,456
8. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$5,656
Cost of attendance
21,623
9. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York
Brooklyn, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,240
Cost of attendance
13,991
10. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$8,987
Cost of attendance
25,527
Top 10 hardest universities to get into for post-doctoral scientists
The hardest universities for post-doctoral scientists to get into are Harvard University, Duke University, and Columbia University in the City of New York.
Some great schools for post-doctoral scientists are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for post-doctoral scientists based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.
1. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
Admissions rate
5%
SAT average
1,520
2. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
Admissions rate
9%
SAT average
1,516
3. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
6%
SAT average
1,512
4. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
Admissions rate
11%
SAT average
1,513
5. Yale University
New Haven, CT • Private
Admissions rate
6%
SAT average
1,517
6. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,492
7. University of Chicago
Chicago, IL • Private
Admissions rate
7%
SAT average
1,520
8. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
Admissions rate
4%
SAT average
1,497
9. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
Admissions rate
10%
SAT average
1,514
10. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,508
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for post-doctoral scientists
The easiest schools for post-doctoral scientists to get into are Mount Saint Mary's University, d'youville college, and barry university.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a post-doctoral scientist without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for post-doctoral scientists.
1. Mount Saint Mary's University
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
84%
SAT average
1,031
2. D'Youville College
Buffalo, NY • Private
Admissions rate
100%
SAT average
1,072
3. Barry University
Miami, FL • Private
Admissions rate
91%
SAT average
1,006
4. University of the Incarnate Word
San Antonio, TX • Private
Admissions rate
88%
SAT average
1,044
5. Notre Dame de Namur University
Belmont, CA • Private
Admissions rate
82%
SAT average
983
6. The University of Texas at El Paso
El Paso, TX • Private
Admissions rate
100%
SAT average
1,035
7. San Francisco State University
San Francisco, CA • Private
Admissions rate
72%
SAT average
1,054
8. Wayland Baptist University
Plainview, TX • Private
Admissions rate
98%
SAT average
1,003
9. Curry College
Milton, MA • Private
Admissions rate
93%
SAT average
1,026
10. University of Houston - Downtown
Houston, TX • Private
Admissions rate
83%
SAT average
1,012
Average post-doctoral scientist salary by education level
| Post-doctoral scientist education level | Post-doctoral scientist salary |
|---|---|
| Master's Degree | $57,026 |
| Bachelor's Degree | $56,099 |
| Doctorate Degree | $59,394 |
Post-doctoral scientist education FAQs
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Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025