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The differences between project officers and research assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a project officer has an average salary of $59,291, which is higher than the $42,896 average annual salary of a research assistant.
The top three skills for a project officer include project management, technical assistance and press releases. The most important skills for a research assistant are patients, lab equipment, and data collection.
| Project Officer | Research Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $59,291 | $42,896 |
| Hourly rate | $28.51 | $20.62 |
| Growth rate | -8% | 19% |
| Number of jobs | 127,352 | 51,080 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 47 | 38 |
| Years of experience | - | 2 |
A project officer provides vital support to a project by monitoring deadlines for each project task and closely monitors the project schedule. They work with the project manager and other team members to reach the project target. They can work in almost every field of industry, such as construction, communications, education, and even sales. They can also do administrative tasks, including arranging team meetings, file project documents to the database, and technological skills, and they report directly to the Project Manager to assess project progress and to discuss future steps.
Research assistants give support to researchers or other professionals who need assistance as they conduct experiments, studies, or other research projects. Research assistants help in conducting experiments, surveys, or interviews under the supervision of the primary researcher. They also work on research activities such as literature reviews, collect data, assist in interpreting results, prepare designs or visuals for the presentation of the results, and even ensure that all the tools and documentation related to the study are properly organized. They also assist in fact-checking the output and ensure that the data presented are accurate. Research assistants usually possess an academic background that is related to the main research topic.
Project officers and research assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Project Officer | Research Assistant | |
| Average salary | $59,291 | $42,896 |
| Salary range | Between $41,000 And $84,000 | Between $28,000 And $64,000 |
| Highest paying City | Baltimore, MD | New Brunswick, NJ |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Morgan Stanley | JPMorgan Chase & Co. |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a project officer and a research assistant in terms of educational background:
| Project Officer | Research Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Business | Psychology |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Harvard University |
Here are the differences between project officers' and research assistants' demographics:
| Project Officer | Research Assistant | |
| Average age | 47 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 65.5% Female, 34.5% | Male, 46.3% Female, 53.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 6.0% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 16.9% White, 52.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 8% |