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Research fellow vs doctoral fellow

The differences between research fellows and doctoral 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 fellow and a doctoral fellow. Additionally, a research fellow has an average salary of $53,823, which is higher than the $53,366 average annual salary of a doctoral fellow.

The top three skills for a research fellow include patients, research projects and data analysis. The most important skills for a doctoral fellow are patients, cell culture, and data analysis.

Research fellow vs doctoral fellow overview

Research FellowDoctoral Fellow
Yearly salary$53,823$53,366
Hourly rate$25.88$25.66
Growth rate17%17%
Number of jobs59,74622,661
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 47%Doctoral Degree, 46%
Average age4141
Years of experience44

What does a research fellow do?

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. To become a research fellow, a candidate should have a doctorate in a relevant discipline and publish peer-reviewed papers. Also, a research fellow can be an independent investigator or be supervised by a principal investigator.

What does a doctoral fellow do?

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. During the fellowship period, a fellow can act as an attending physician or consultant physician with other physicians' direct supervision in the sub-specialty field.

Research fellow vs doctoral fellow salary

Research fellows and doctoral fellows have different pay scales, as shown below.

Research FellowDoctoral Fellow
Average salary$53,823$53,366
Salary rangeBetween $39,000 And $72,000Between $39,000 And $72,000
Highest paying CitySouth San Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateHawaiiHawaii
Best paying companyMcKinsey & Company IncIBM
Best paying industryNon ProfitsPharmaceutical

Differences between research fellow and doctoral fellow education

There are a few differences between a research fellow and a doctoral fellow in terms of educational background:

Research FellowDoctoral Fellow
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 47%Doctoral Degree, 46%
Most common majorChemistryChemistry
Most common collegeDuke UniversityDuke University

Research fellow vs doctoral fellow demographics

Here are the differences between research fellows' and doctoral fellows' demographics:

Research FellowDoctoral Fellow
Average age4141
Gender ratioMale, 55.3% Female, 44.7%Male, 55.3% Female, 44.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 27.1% White, 52.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 32.9% White, 47.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage8%8%

Differences between research fellow and doctoral fellow duties and responsibilities

Research fellow example responsibilities.

  • Collaborate with software engineers to automate identification of 15N- and 13C- labele LC-MS features.
  • Process and manage GIS databases to contribute towards research in human transportation behavior.
  • Manage investigator initiate and cooperative group correlative studies to identify biomarkers to ascertain tumor burden and clinical outcomes in lymphoma.
  • Analyze quantitative and qualitative data through statistical software SAS and SPSS.
  • Conduct sampling, PCR, data analysis and oral presentations of the work
  • Implement python and C++ codes for numerical computation of transport properties in models and materials.
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Doctoral fellow example responsibilities.

  • Lead the in-vitro biophysical and biochemical characterization of homologous recombination and investigate structure-function effects of mutant enzymes.
  • Attend courses in drug discovery, python programming, and next-generation sequencing analyses.
  • Coordinate the validation of data aquisition algorithms (C++, python) for all real and simulate data.
  • Conduct custom synthesis of organic molecules, key intermediates and building blocks for medicinal chemistry applications.
  • Design PCL/PLCL drug delivery system for DC immunotherapy.
  • Succeed in using CRISPR to genetically correct diseas iPSCs.
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Research fellow vs doctoral fellow skills

Common research fellow skills
  • Patients, 10%
  • Research Projects, 6%
  • Data Analysis, 5%
  • Cell Culture, 5%
  • Immunology, 4%
  • CRISPR, 4%
Common doctoral fellow skills
  • Patients, 8%
  • Cell Culture, 6%
  • Data Analysis, 5%
  • Research Projects, 5%
  • Cell Biology, 5%
  • Immunology, 5%

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