Research Administrator Overview
Working as a Research Administrator
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a research administrator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.31 an hour? That's $50,571 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 3,700 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Research Administrator Do
There are certain skills that many research administrators have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, interpersonal skills and leadership skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a research administrator, we found that a lot of resumes listed 12.2% of research administrators included procedures, while 8.0% of resumes included research administration, and 6.3% of resumes included customer service. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the research administrator job title. But what industry to start with? Most research administrators actually find jobs in the education and health care industries.
How To Become a Research Administrator
If you're interested in becoming a research administrator, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 39.9% of research administrators have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 31.9% of research administrators have master's degrees. Even though most research administrators have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a research administrator. When we researched the most common majors for a research administrator, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on research administrator resumes include doctoral degree degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a research administrator. In fact, many research administrator jobs require experience in a role such as administrative assistant. Meanwhile, many research administrators also have previous career experience in roles such as research assistant or internship.
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Research Administrator Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of office manager you might progress to a role such as operations manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title project director.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Research Administrator
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
University of Wisconsin Madison Research Administrator Research Administrator | University of Wisconsin Madison University of Wisconsin Madison | 01/27/2021 01/27/2021 | $45,64301/27/2021 $45,643 |
Washington University of St. Louis Research Administrator-Neuroscience Research Administrator-Neuroscience | Washington University of St. Louis Washington University of St. Louis | 01/25/2021 01/25/2021 | $56,47201/25/2021 $56,472 |
Florida Department of Transportation Research Administrator II-FWC-SES Research Administrator II-FWC-SES | Florida Department of Transportation Florida Department of Transportation | 01/23/2021 01/23/2021 | $58,14701/23/2021 $58,147 |
State of Florida Research Administrator II-FWC-SES Research Administrator II-FWC-SES | State of Florida State of Florida | 01/23/2021 01/23/2021 | $58,14701/23/2021 $58,147 |
George Washington University Research Fiscal Administrator, Pre and Post Award Research Fiscal Administrator, Pre and Post Award | George Washington University George Washington University | 01/22/2021 01/22/2021 | $52,15101/22/2021 $52,151 |
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Top Colleges for Research Administrators
1. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
2. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
3. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
4. Maine Maritime Academy
Castine, ME • Public
5. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
6. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Public
7. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Public
8. Villanova University
Villanova, PA • Private
9. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Public
10. Bentley University
Waltham, MA • Private
Top Skills For a Research Administrator
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 12.2% of research administrators listed procedures on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and interpersonal skills are important as well.
- Procedures, 12.2%
- Research Administration, 8.0%
- Customer Service, 6.3%
- Research Projects, 5.5%
- Principal Investigators, 5.4%
- Other Skills, 62.6% See All Research Administrator Skills
Best States For a Research Administrator
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a research administrator. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Research administrators make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $76,745. Whereas in Connecticut and New Jersey, they would average $72,871 and $69,280, respectively. While research administrators would only make an average of $67,753 in Massachusetts, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Alaska
$76,745
Avg. Salary
2. Massachusetts
$67,753
Avg. Salary
3. New Jersey
$69,280
Avg. Salary