Research volunteer vs research fellow

The differences between research volunteers and research fellows can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a research volunteer, becoming a research fellow takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a research volunteer has an average salary of $54,668, which is higher than the $53,823 average annual salary of a research fellow.

The top three skills for a research volunteer include lab procedures, cell culture and laboratory techniques. The most important skills for a research fellow are patients, research projects, and data analysis.

Research volunteer vs research fellow overview

	Research Volunteer	Research Fellow
Yearly salary	$54,668	$53,823
Hourly rate	$26.28	$25.88
Growth rate	19%	17%
Number of jobs	50,334	59,746
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	38	41
Years of experience	2	4

Research volunteer vs research fellow salary

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

	Research Volunteer	Research Fellow
Average salary	$54,668	$53,823
Salary range	Between $34,000 And $85,000	Between $39,000 And $72,000
Highest paying City	-	South San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	Hawaii
Best paying company	-	McKinsey & Company Inc
Best paying industry	-	Non Profits

Differences between research volunteer and research fellow education

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

	Research Volunteer	Research Fellow
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Biology	Chemistry
Most common college	Harvard University	Duke University

Research volunteer vs research fellow demographics

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

	Research Volunteer	Research Fellow
Average age	38	41
Gender ratio	Male, 38.7% Female, 61.3%	Male, 55.3% Female, 44.7%
Race ratio	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%	Black 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%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between research volunteer and research fellow duties and responsibilities

Research volunteer example responsibilities.

Evaluate patients' study eligibility via medical history, obtain informed consent, enroll patients, and achieve enrollment quotas.
Assist in monitoring MRI scans.
Assist in cloning and expression for RNA research.
Analyze cell lysates and purify proteins by SDS-PAGE electrophoresis.
Design a PowerPoint presentation to teach senior adults about email accounts.
Assist with laboratory experiments, collect data and DNA samples, contribute to lab protocols.

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.

Research volunteer vs research fellow skills

Common research volunteer skills

Lab Procedures, 11%
Cell Culture, 8%
Laboratory Techniques, 7%
Data Collection, 6%
R, 4%
RT-PCR, 4%

Common research fellow skills

Patients, 10%
Research Projects, 6%
Data Analysis, 5%
Cell Culture, 5%
Immunology, 4%
CRISPR, 4%

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Research Volunteer
Research Volunteer vs Research Fellow

Updated January 8, 2025

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