How to hire a research assistant professor

How to hire a research assistant professor, step by step

Here's a step-by-step research assistant professor hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a research assistant professor job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new research assistant professor
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a research assistant professor do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your research assistant professor job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a research assistant professor for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect research assistant professor also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   Here's a comparison of research assistant professor salaries for various roles:

   Type of Research Assistant Professor	Description	Hourly rate
   Research Assistant Professor	A Research Assistant Professor assists professors in carrying out a particular research agenda. Their primary duties include conducting literature reviews, collecting and analyze data, and monitoring the project budget.	$25-49
   Doctoral Fellow	A doctoral fellow is a physician that has completed studies and receives a fellowship to cover his/her or her expenses while completing his/her or her medical dissertation. A doctor fellow undergoes this fellowship to get additional training for their chosen sub-specialty... Show more	$18-34
   Research Fellow	A research fellow is an academic researcher who conducts research and analysis of comprehensive literature, data, and results and provides literature reviews. He/She supervises research assistants and recruits study participants to interview them for a particular study... Show more	$18-34

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Research Projects
   • Biomedical
   • Research Program
   • Independent Research
   • Public Health
   • Data Analysis
   • NIH
   • Chemistry
   • Molecular Biology
   • Patients
   • Data Collection
   • Python
   • Pharmacology
   • PI

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage UW small animal MRI facility.
   • Manage all aspects of HPLC method development and analysis through interpretation of data ensuring accuracy of results.
   • Conduct basic and apply research on HIV immunology.
   • Apply SAS and SPSS programming in a variety of research contexts.
   • Key role in research group's NIH grant applications and long-term project planning.
   • Develop python pipeline to analyze imaging data.

   More research assistant professor duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your research assistant professor job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A research assistant professor salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a research assistant professor in South Dakota may be lower than in Massachusetts, and an entry-level research assistant professor usually earns less than a senior-level research assistant professor. Additionally, a research assistant professor with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average research assistant professor salary

   $73,455yearly

   $35.31 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level research assistant professor salary

   $52,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 17, 2026

   Average research assistant professor salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	District of Columbia	$93,149	$45
   2	Massachusetts	$90,727	$44
   3	California	$88,186	$42
   4	Georgia	$87,078	$42
   5	Oregon	$84,745	$41
   6	Nevada	$81,675	$39
   7	Illinois	$77,537	$37
   8	Washington	$77,067	$37
   9	West Virginia	$76,843	$37
   10	Louisiana	$76,356	$37
   11	Maryland	$75,049	$36
   12	New York	$74,653	$36
   13	North Carolina	$73,891	$36
   14	Florida	$73,779	$35
   15	Ohio	$73,003	$35
   16	Virginia	$72,567	$35
   17	Arizona	$72,465	$35
   18	New Mexico	$71,726	$34
   19	South Carolina	$71,346	$34
   20	Indiana	$71,344	$34

   Average research assistant professor salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Stanford University	$99,086	$47.64	257
   2	Columbia University in the City of New York	$98,959	$47.58	83
   3	University of California-Berkeley	$96,822	$46.55
   4	New York University	$95,272	$45.80	42
   5	University of California	$94,617	$45.49	159
   6	University of Alaska	$94,062	$45.22	97
   7	City College of San Francisco	$93,523	$44.96
   8	Georgetown University	$93,385	$44.90	15
   9	Northeastern University	$92,077	$44.27	198
   10	Tulane University	$91,948	$44.21	262
   11	University of Massachusetts Medical School	$90,855	$43.68	7
   12	University of New Orleans	$90,344	$43.43
   13	91X KXUL	$90,287	$43.41
   14	California Institute of Technology	$90,244	$43.39	8
   15	Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai	$88,996	$42.79
   16	Oregon Health & Science University	$88,428	$42.51	102
   17	University of Washington	$88,101	$42.36	62
   18	Fox Chase Cancer Center	$87,961	$42.29
   19	Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago	$86,298	$41.49	65
   20	UT Health East Texas	$85,691	$41.20

4. Writing a research assistant professor job description

   A good research assistant professor job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a research assistant professor job description:

   Research assistant professor job description example

   The Division of Child Neurology in the Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford University seeks a child neurologist or neuroscientist to be appointed at the Assistant Professor or Associate Professor level in the University Tenure Line (UTL), University Medical Line (UML), or Non-Tenure Line Research (NTLR), depending on qualifications. Desirable applicants should bring expertise in translational research focused on acquired brain injury of childhood, in areas such as stroke, concussion, brain tumors, or neonatal brain injury. Faculty line and rank will be determined by the qualifications and experience of the successful candidate.
   
   + The predominant criterion for appointment in the **University Tenure Line** is a major commitment to research and teaching.
   
   + The major criteria for appointment for faculty in the **University Medical Line** shall be excellence in the overall mix of clinical care, clinical teaching, scholarly activity that advances clinical medicine, and institutional service appropriate to the programmatic need the individual is expected to fulfill.
   
   + The major criterion for appointment for faculty in the **Non-tenure Line (Research)** is evidence of high-level performance as a researcher for whose special knowledge a programmatic need exists.
   
   The successful candidate will have an opportunity to interact across the wide range of clinical, translational, and basic science programs offered at Stanford. The position requires a strong commitment to scholarly work and should include a highly specific focus on laboratory-based translational research and scholarship relevant to injury of the central nervous system resulting from diseases processes of childhood and complementary to the subspecialty foci the Division. Necessary qualifications include a PhD, MD, or MD/PhD, and, if appropriate, Board certification or eligibility from the ABPN (with Special Competence in Child Neurology), eligibility for a California medical license, and suitable clinical, teaching and scholarship experience. A trajectory of obtaining intra- and extramural grants is desirable.
   
   The Division of Child Neurology is a rapidly growing program at Stanford University with over 35 faculty and a large scholarly footprint in basic and translational science, as well as investigator-initiated clinical trials and correlative research, which attracts extramural funding from a full range of federal agencies and foundations. There are well-established subspecialty foci in stroke, traumatic brain injury, neuro-oncology, neonatal neurology, and epilepsy, among multiple other programs.
   Applications will be reviewed beginning immediately and accepted until position is filled.
   
   Stanford is an equal employment opportunity and affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Stanford welcomes applications from all who would bring additional dimensions to the University's research, teaching and clinical missions.
   
   The Neurology Department, School of Medicine, and Stanford University value faculty who are committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion. Candidates may optionally include as part of their research or teaching statement a brief discussion of how their work will further these ideals.
   
   Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae, candidate statement (no longer than three pages) describing research and teaching activities and interests, and names with contact information of three references to Stanford FSAT system.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right research assistant professor for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with research assistant professors they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit research assistant professors who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your research assistant professor job on Zippia to find and recruit research assistant professor candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting research assistant professors requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new research assistant professor

   Once you've found the research assistant professor candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new research assistant professor. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a research assistant professor?