Postdoc fellow vs research fellow

The differences between postdoc fellows and research fellows 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 research fellow. Additionally, a postdoc fellow has an average salary of $58,376, which is higher than the $53,823 average annual salary of a research fellow.

The top three skills for a postdoc fellow include molecular biology, data analysis and CRISPR. The most important skills for a research fellow are patients, research projects, and data analysis.

Postdoc fellow vs research fellow overview

	Postdoc Fellow	Research Fellow
Yearly salary	$58,376	$53,823
Hourly rate	$28.07	$25.88
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	8,499	59,746
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	4	4

Postdoc fellow vs research fellow salary

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

	Postdoc Fellow	Research Fellow
Average salary	$58,376	$53,823
Salary range	Between $42,000 And $80,000	Between $39,000 And $72,000
Highest paying City	Burlingame, CA	South San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Hawaii	Hawaii
Best paying company	TRI-AD	McKinsey & Company Inc
Best paying industry	Professional	Non Profits

Differences between postdoc fellow and research fellow education

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

	Postdoc Fellow	Research Fellow
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	University of Southern California	Duke University

Postdoc fellow vs research fellow demographics

Here are the differences between postdoc fellows' and research fellows' demographics:

	Postdoc Fellow	Research Fellow
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 71.1% Female, 28.9%	Male, 55.3% Female, 44.7%
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, 6.4% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 27.1% White, 52.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between postdoc fellow and research fellow 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.

Research fellow example responsibilities.

Collaborate with software engineers to automate identification of 15N- and 13C- labele LC-MS features.
Process and manage GIS databases to contribute towards research in human transportation behavior.
Manage investigator initiate and cooperative group correlative studies to identify biomarkers to ascertain tumor burden and clinical outcomes in lymphoma.
Analyze quantitative and qualitative data through statistical software SAS and SPSS.
Conduct sampling, PCR, data analysis and oral presentations of the work
Implement python and C++ codes for numerical computation of transport properties in models and materials.

Postdoc fellow vs research fellow skills

Common postdoc fellow skills

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

Common research fellow skills

Patients, 10%
Research Projects, 6%
Data Analysis, 5%
Cell Culture, 5%
Immunology, 4%
CRISPR, 4%

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Postdoc Fellow
Postdoc Fellow vs Research Fellow

Updated January 8, 2025

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