Postdoctoral scholar vs doctoral student

The differences between postdoctoral scholars and doctoral students can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a postdoctoral scholar has an average salary of $57,587, which is higher than the $56,000 average annual salary of a doctoral student.

The top three skills for a postdoctoral scholar include chemistry, python and patients. The most important skills for a doctoral student are C++, python, and java.

Postdoctoral scholar vs doctoral student overview

	Postdoctoral Scholar	Doctoral Student
Yearly salary	$57,587	$56,000
Hourly rate	$27.69	$26.92
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	18,983	15,502
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Average age	41	44
Years of experience	4	-

Postdoctoral scholar vs doctoral student salary

Postdoctoral scholars and doctoral students have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Postdoctoral Scholar	Doctoral Student
Average salary	$57,587	$56,000
Salary range	Between $41,000 And $79,000	Between $39,000 And $78,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	-
Highest paying state	California	-
Best paying company	Microsoft	-
Best paying industry	Technology	-

Differences between postdoctoral scholar and doctoral student education

There are a few differences between a postdoctoral scholar and a doctoral student in terms of educational background:

	Postdoctoral Scholar	Doctoral Student
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Most common major	Chemistry	Biology
Most common college	Duke University	Stanford University

Postdoctoral scholar vs doctoral student demographics

Here are the differences between postdoctoral scholars' and doctoral students' demographics:

	Postdoctoral Scholar	Doctoral Student
Average age	41	44
Gender ratio	Male, 53.0% Female, 47.0%	Male, 52.9% Female, 47.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 26.3% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 17.6% Asian, 11.8% White, 53.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage	8%	6%

Differences between postdoctoral scholar and doctoral student duties and responsibilities

Postdoctoral scholar example responsibilities.

Lead community-based health projects on and off campus as an Oslerian student scholar.
Lead the in-vitro biophysical and biochemical characterization of homologous recombination and investigate structure-function effects of mutant enzymes.
Utilize basic organic and inorganic chemistry techniques including polymer synthesis and NMR spectroscopy.
Train graduate students on molecular biology techniques- DNA and RNA extraction and qPCR.
Contribute to successful NIH grant proposals.
Develop HPLC analysis method for skin folate.

Doctoral student example responsibilities.

Manage multiple collaborative projects peripheral to dissertation that leverage experience in characterization and inorganic synthesis.
Lead the in-vitro biophysical and biochemical characterization of homologous recombination and investigate structure-function effects of mutant enzymes.
Used RT-PCR, ELISA, western blot, culture of establish cell lines, and immunohistochemistry.
Apply NMR techniques to assess the effect of a health supplement on neurological changes in Alzheimer s disease.
Analyze the molecular structures by NMR and FR-IR, determine the molecular weight and polymerization kinetics by GPC.
Develop complex ELISA and western blot methods to study and characterize the host immune response to intracellular parasitism.

Postdoctoral scholar vs doctoral student skills

Common postdoctoral scholar skills

Chemistry, 10%
Python, 8%
Patients, 6%
Data Analysis, 6%
NIH, 5%
C++, 5%

Common doctoral student skills

C++, 15%
Python, 11%
Java, 10%
Cell Culture, 6%
Chemistry, 6%
Data Analysis, 5%

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Postdoctoral Scholar
Postdoctoral Scholar vs Doctoral Student

Updated January 8, 2025

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