Research group director vs postdoctoral associate

The differences between research group directors and postdoctoral associates 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 group director and a postdoctoral associate. Additionally, a research group director has an average salary of $97,758, which is higher than the $54,350 average annual salary of a postdoctoral associate.

The top three skills for a research group director include research projects, R and market research. The most important skills for a postdoctoral associate are patients, TIP, and data analysis.

Research group director vs postdoctoral associate overview

	Research Group Director	Postdoctoral Associate
Yearly salary	$97,758	$54,350
Hourly rate	$47.00	$26.13
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	60,130	18,093
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Doctoral Degree, 47%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	4	4

Research group director vs postdoctoral associate salary

Research group directors and postdoctoral associates have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Research Group Director	Postdoctoral Associate
Average salary	$97,758	$54,350
Salary range	Between $59,000 And $160,000	Between $39,000 And $74,000
Highest paying City	-	Berkeley, CA
Highest paying state	-	Maine
Best paying company	-	Argonne National Laboratory
Best paying industry	-	Education

Differences between research group director and postdoctoral associate education

There are a few differences between a research group director and a postdoctoral associate in terms of educational background:

	Research Group Director	Postdoctoral Associate
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Doctoral Degree, 47%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	Duke University	Duke University

Research group director vs postdoctoral associate demographics

Here are the differences between research group directors' and postdoctoral associates' demographics:

	Research Group Director	Postdoctoral Associate
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 56.5% Female, 43.5%	Male, 63.2% Female, 36.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 26.3% White, 53.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 5.7% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 39.4% White, 42.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between research group director and postdoctoral associate duties and responsibilities

Research group director example responsibilities.

Lead social path-to-purchase study, incorporating social media analytics into insight community to identify spectrum of social engagement among customers.
Develop a license plate recognition and tracking algorithm using MATLAB.
Design a moving JPEG hardware accelerator using MATLAB and Simulink.
Develop and modify Linux device drivers for use on main controller platform.
Present results, observations and future plans via PowerPoint to the research class
Research into novel method for production of gold nanoparticles with tailorable size and shape.

Postdoctoral associate example responsibilities.

Develop and manage third party claim investigations and contractor remedial oversight for various insurance companies.
Co-Authore NIH grant proposal on membrane protein folding.
Participate in writing research grant applications including NIH and NSF.
X-ray protein crystallographic studies on the structures of antibodies and DNA.
Purify DNA from subject blood samples and organize the genome screen.
Complete mice handling training and currently using CRISPR technology to knockout genes in cell lines.

Research group director vs postdoctoral associate skills

Common research group director skills

Research Projects, 48%
R, 18%
Market Research, 6%
Laboratory Procedures, 6%
Clinical Trials, 5%
MATLAB, 5%

Common postdoctoral associate skills

Patients, 8%
TIP, 7%
Data Analysis, 6%
Biomedical, 5%
CRISPR, 5%
Python, 4%

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Research Group Director
Research Group Director vs Postdoctoral Associate

Updated January 8, 2025

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