Postdoc fellow vs principal scientist

The differences between postdoc fellows and principal 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 postdoc fellow and a principal scientist. Additionally, a principal scientist has an average salary of $119,982, which is higher than the $58,376 average annual salary of a postdoc fellow.

The top three skills for a postdoc fellow include molecular biology, data analysis and CRISPR. The most important skills for a principal scientist are oncology, data analysis, and drug discovery.

Postdoc fellow vs principal scientist overview

	Postdoc Fellow	Principal Scientist
Yearly salary	$58,376	$119,982
Hourly rate	$28.07	$57.68
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	8,499	80,899
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	4	4

Postdoc fellow vs principal scientist salary

Postdoc fellows and principal scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Postdoc Fellow	Principal Scientist
Average salary	$58,376	$119,982
Salary range	Between $42,000 And $80,000	Between $84,000 And $169,000
Highest paying City	Burlingame, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Hawaii	California
Best paying company	TRI-AD	PayPal
Best paying industry	Professional	Finance

Differences between postdoc fellow and principal scientist education

There are a few differences between a postdoc fellow and a principal scientist in terms of educational background:

	Postdoc Fellow	Principal Scientist
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	University of Southern California	Duke University

Postdoc fellow vs principal scientist demographics

Here are the differences between postdoc fellows' and principal scientists' demographics:

	Postdoc Fellow	Principal Scientist
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 71.1% Female, 28.9%	Male, 76.8% Female, 23.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 7.3% Asian, 45.5% White, 39.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 26.4% White, 53.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between postdoc fellow and principal scientist duties and responsibilities

Postdoc fellow example responsibilities.

Collaborate with software engineers to automate identification of 15N- and 13C- labele LC-MS features.
Perform expression profiling on primary promyelocyte samples and identify candidate genes that may be involve in SCN pathogenesis and malignant transformation.
Investigate chromatid orientation through immunofluorescence.

Principal scientist example responsibilities.

Manage pediatric dose development project, technology transfer project and alternate API supplier qualification project on budget and on schedule
Provide development of and line support for assign immunoassay reagents, calibrators and controls.
Transfer controls to manufacturing for product launch and include all require studies, testing and documentation under GMP guidelines.
Maintain several lab documents for ISO certification.
Understand drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics and design stable molecules.
Image visualization and manipulation of background plates for animation and post-processing.

Postdoc fellow vs principal scientist skills

Common postdoc fellow skills

Molecular Biology, 15%
Data Analysis, 10%
CRISPR, 9%
Python, 9%
Chemistry, 8%
Conduct Research, 7%

Common principal scientist skills

Oncology, 7%
Data Analysis, 6%
Drug Discovery, 5%
GMP, 3%
Experimental Design, 3%
Clinical Trials, 3%

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Postdoc Fellow
Postdoc Fellow vs Principal Scientist

Updated January 8, 2025

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