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Research assistant lead vs research technician

The differences between research assistant leads and research technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a research assistant lead, becoming a research technician takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a research assistant lead has an average salary of $67,946, which is higher than the $43,034 average annual salary of a research technician.

The top three skills for a research assistant lead include DR, data entry and . The most important skills for a research technician are patients, data collection, and cell culture.

Research assistant lead vs research technician overview

Research Assistant LeadResearch Technician
Yearly salary$67,946$43,034
Hourly rate$32.67$20.69
Growth rate19%9%
Number of jobs47,81264,786
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 62%Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Average age3840
Years of experience24

Research assistant lead vs research technician salary

Research assistant leads and research technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

Research Assistant LeadResearch Technician
Average salary$67,946$43,034
Salary rangeBetween $44,000 And $104,000Between $31,000 And $59,000
Highest paying City-Pasadena, CA
Highest paying state-Connecticut
Best paying company-GCP Applied Technologies
Best paying industry-Manufacturing

Differences between research assistant lead and research technician education

There are a few differences between a research assistant lead and a research technician in terms of educational background:

Research Assistant LeadResearch Technician
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 62%Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Most common majorPsychologyBiology
Most common collegeHarvard UniversityCornell University

Research assistant lead vs research technician demographics

Here are the differences between research assistant leads' and research technicians' demographics:

Research Assistant LeadResearch Technician
Average age3840
Gender ratioMale, 37.3% Female, 62.7%Male, 49.3% Female, 50.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 10.5% White, 56.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%Black or African American, 12.0% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.1% Asian, 16.5% White, 49.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.4%
LGBT Percentage8%6%

Differences between research assistant lead and research technician duties and responsibilities

Research assistant lead example responsibilities.

  • Evaluate patients' study eligibility via medical history, obtain informed consent, enroll patients, and achieve enrollment quotas.
  • Synthesize and characterize colloidal room-temperature ferromagnetic CoFe2O4 nanoparticles.
  • Synthesize and characterize colloidal room-temperature ferromagnetic CoFe2O4 nanoparticles.

Research technician example responsibilities.

  • Manage a DNA database and work with researchers to retrieve or send out samples and results.
  • Lead experiments to assess survivor behavior differences in zebrafish contaminate with dietary mercury.
  • Prepare reagents for use in processing samples, DNA and RNA extractions, and QC.
  • Investigate and validate various acute phase protein assays as OA biomarkers in rodent animal models.
  • Perform DNA extraction and analysis for the purpose of identifying bacterial strand for waste stream characterization.
  • Extend course knowledge of CRISPR to experiment.
  • Show more

Research assistant lead vs research technician skills

Common research assistant lead skills
  • DR, 51%
  • Data Entry, 49%
Common research technician skills
  • Patients, 9%
  • Data Collection, 6%
  • Cell Culture, 5%
  • Laboratory Equipment, 5%
  • Research Projects, 4%
  • Lab Equipment, 3%

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