Research associate professor vs senior research fellow

The differences between research associate professors and senior research fellows can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a research associate professor and a senior research fellow. Additionally, a research associate professor has an average salary of $94,301, which is higher than the $62,129 average annual salary of a senior research fellow.

The top three skills for a research associate professor include public health, biomedical and research projects. The most important skills for a senior research fellow are python, research projects, and data analysis.

Research associate professor vs senior research fellow overview

	Research Associate Professor	Senior Research Fellow
Yearly salary	$94,301	$62,129
Hourly rate	$45.34	$29.87
Growth rate	12%	17%
Number of jobs	57,738	53,535
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 41%	Bachelor's Degree, 52%
Average age	46	41
Years of experience	4	4

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 senior research fellow do?

Senior Research Fellows are reputable researchers employed in an academic institution or a research facility. The nature of their employment in the institution is related to their research work or field of interest. Senior Research Fellows lead a team of researchers on big projects that require more team members. They manage the team's budget, set timelines, and guide the researchers. They spearhead the analysis of the data gathered. They also set the tone for the presentation materials. Senior Research Fellows should be passionate about their field, should have a thirst for knowledge, and should be able to lead teams.

Research associate professor vs senior research fellow salary

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

	Research Associate Professor	Senior Research Fellow
Average salary	$94,301	$62,129
Salary range	Between $58,000 And $151,000	Between $40,000 And $95,000
Highest paying City	Salt Lake City, UT	Urban Honolulu, HI
Highest paying state	Utah	Hawaii
Best paying company	University of Massachusetts Medical School	Google
Best paying industry	Health Care	-

Differences between research associate professor and senior research fellow education

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

	Research Associate Professor	Senior Research Fellow
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 41%	Bachelor's Degree, 52%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	Cornell University	Duke University

Research associate professor vs senior research fellow demographics

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

	Research Associate Professor	Senior Research Fellow
Average age	46	41
Gender ratio	Male, 69.6% Female, 30.4%	Male, 56.1% Female, 43.9%
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, 6.2% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 26.5% White, 53.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	16%	8%

Differences between research associate professor and senior research fellow 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.

Senior research fellow example responsibilities.

Lead a project aim at improving DNA yields from various soil types in Dr. Connell's lab.
Manage grant base research and submit the grant proposal to ICAR and get approved for fund research.
Mentore a graduate student on the following topics: study design, literature reviews, drafting data plans and SAS.
Contribute to the creation of new markup standards for scholarship in the humanities.
Research unidentify payments and patients.
Conduct long-term observations of grind water dynamics and chemistry.

Research associate professor vs senior research fellow skills

Common research associate professor skills

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

Common senior research fellow skills

Python, 12%
Research Projects, 8%
Data Analysis, 6%
C++, 6%
Research Findings, 5%
Data Collection, 4%

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Research Associate Professor
Research Associate Professor vs Senior Research Fellow

Updated January 8, 2025

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