Research associate professor vs research assistant

The differences between research associate professors and research assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a research associate professor, becoming a research assistant takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a research associate professor has an average salary of $94,301, which is higher than the $42,896 average annual salary of a research assistant.

The top three skills for a research associate professor include public health, biomedical and research projects. The most important skills for a research assistant are patients, lab equipment, and data collection.

Research associate professor vs research assistant overview

	Research Associate Professor	Research Assistant
Yearly salary	$94,301	$42,896
Hourly rate	$45.34	$20.62
Growth rate	12%	19%
Number of jobs	57,738	51,080
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 41%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Average age	46	38
Years of experience	4	2

What does a research associate professor do?

The work of a research associate professor is conducting research, publishing papers, and attending conferences. The professor is also tasked with the job of attending academic events and networking with other researchers and field experts, as well as supervising, advising, and mentoring teaching assistants and graduate students.

What does a research assistant do?

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.

Research associate professor vs research assistant salary

Research associate professors and research assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Research Associate Professor	Research Assistant
Average salary	$94,301	$42,896
Salary range	Between $58,000 And $151,000	Between $28,000 And $64,000
Highest paying City	Salt Lake City, UT	New Brunswick, NJ
Highest paying state	Utah	New Jersey
Best paying company	University of Massachusetts Medical School	JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between research associate professor and research assistant education

There are a few differences between a research associate professor and a research assistant in terms of educational background:

	Research Associate Professor	Research Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 41%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Most common major	Chemistry	Psychology
Most common college	Cornell University	Harvard University

Research associate professor vs research assistant demographics

Here are the differences between research associate professors' and research assistants' demographics:

	Research Associate Professor	Research Assistant
Average age	46	38
Gender ratio	Male, 69.6% Female, 30.4%	Male, 46.3% Female, 53.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 17.6% White, 62.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	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	16%	8%

Differences between research associate professor and research assistant duties and responsibilities

Research associate professor example responsibilities.

Process and manage GIS databases to contribute towards research in human transportation behavior.
Conduct NIH sponsor studies on HIV/AIDS in African-American and Hispanic populations in Alabama.
Train students in electron microscopy, laser safety, vacuum technology, chemistry, instrumentation, and other laboratory procedures.
Identify glucose-induced increases in the phosphorylation levels of interest proteins, including metabolic enzymes and transcription factors by analyzing phosphoproteomics data.

Research assistant example responsibilities.

Update twitter profile and manage social media campaign.
Manage social media publications to spread awareness and notifications on Facebook.
Evaluate patients' study eligibility via medical history, obtain informed consent, enroll patients, and achieve enrollment quotas.
Learned many laboratory techniques, assays, and protocols; western blot, real-time PCR, tick collection, DNA extraction.
Analyze the effects of estrogen on various tissues using molecular biology techniques such as RT-PCR, RNA and DNA extractions.
Gain familiarity with research terminology, development procedures, data collection and management, and IRB considerations.

Research associate professor vs research assistant skills

Common research associate professor skills

Public Health, 15%
Biomedical, 12%
Research Projects, 11%
SAS, 6%
NIH, 6%
Data Collection, 6%

Common research assistant skills

Patients, 9%
Lab Equipment, 9%
Data Collection, 8%
Laboratory Equipment, 5%
Research Projects, 5%
Data Analysis, 5%

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Research Associate Professor
Research Associate Professor vs Research Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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