Postdoc fellow vs senior research fellow

The differences between postdoc fellows and senior 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 senior research fellow. Additionally, a senior research fellow has an average salary of $62,129, 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 senior research fellow are python, research projects, and data analysis.

Postdoc fellow vs senior research fellow overview

	Postdoc Fellow	Senior Research Fellow
Yearly salary	$58,376	$62,129
Hourly rate	$28.07	$29.87
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	8,499	53,535
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 52%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	4	4

Postdoc fellow vs senior research fellow salary

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

	Postdoc Fellow	Senior Research Fellow
Average salary	$58,376	$62,129
Salary range	Between $42,000 And $80,000	Between $40,000 And $95,000
Highest paying City	Burlingame, CA	Urban Honolulu, HI
Highest paying state	Hawaii	Hawaii
Best paying company	TRI-AD	Google
Best paying industry	Professional	-

Differences between postdoc fellow and senior research fellow education

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

	Postdoc Fellow	Senior Research Fellow
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 52%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	University of Southern California	Duke University

Postdoc fellow vs senior research fellow demographics

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

	Postdoc Fellow	Senior Research Fellow
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 71.1% Female, 28.9%	Male, 56.1% Female, 43.9%
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, 6.2% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 26.5% White, 53.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between postdoc fellow and senior 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.

Senior research fellow example responsibilities.

Lead a project aim at improving DNA yields from various soil types in Dr. Connell's lab.
Manage grant base research and submit the grant proposal to ICAR and get approved for fund research.
Mentore a graduate student on the following topics: study design, literature reviews, drafting data plans and SAS.
Contribute to the creation of new markup standards for scholarship in the humanities.
Research unidentify payments and patients.
Conduct long-term observations of grind water dynamics and chemistry.

Postdoc fellow vs senior research fellow skills

Common postdoc fellow skills

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

Common senior research fellow skills

Python, 12%
Research Projects, 8%
Data Analysis, 6%
C++, 6%
Research Findings, 5%
Data Collection, 4%

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Postdoc Fellow
Postdoc Fellow vs Senior Research Fellow

Updated January 8, 2025

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