How To Become A Research Affiliate: What It Is and Career Path

What is a research affiliate and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Badri Roysam D.Sc.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a research affiliate. For example, did you know that they make an average of $32.63 an hour? That's $67,863 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 17% and produce 20,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a research affiliate?

Badri Roysam D.Sc.

Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen University Professor Chair, Electrical & Computer Engineering Department University of Houston, University of Houston

The fundamentals of the discipline, and critical thinking skills will continue to be important.

ScoreResearch AffiliateUS Average

Salary

5.3

Avg. Salary $67,863

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.3

Growth rate 17%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.15%

Asian 26.50%

Black or African American 6.24%

Hispanic or Latino 9.44%

Unknown 4.06%

White 53.62%

Gender

female 51.01%

male 48.99%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

6.3

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a research affiliate

Explore research affiliate education requirements

Most common research affiliate degrees

Bachelor's

52.7 %

Doctorate

22.6 %

Master's

20.5 %

Start to develop specific research affiliate skills

Skills	Percentages
Cell Culture	21.84%
Data Analysis	16.11%
R	15.57%
Research Projects	9.94%
MATLAB	9.07%

Complete relevant research affiliate training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New research affiliates learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a research affiliate based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real research affiliate resumes.

Research research affiliate duties and responsibilities

Manage social media publications to spread awareness and notifications on Facebook.
Explore speech production (gestural movement) using EMA and Matlab.
Design and implement the active RF power servo for ion trap applications.
Demonstrate the utility of monolayer ISC culture for disease modeling and high-throughput drug screening to identify potential therapeutics for IBD.

Prepare your research affiliate resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your research affiliate resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a research affiliate resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable research affiliate resume templates

Build a professional research affiliate resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your research affiliate resume.