Research volunteer vs research technician

The differences between research volunteers and research technicians 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 technician takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a research volunteer has an average salary of $54,668, which is higher than the $43,034 average annual salary of a research technician.

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

Research volunteer vs research technician overview

	Research Volunteer	Research Technician
Yearly salary	$54,668	$43,034
Hourly rate	$26.28	$20.69
Growth rate	19%	9%
Number of jobs	50,334	64,786
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Average age	38	40
Years of experience	2	4

Research volunteer vs research technician salary

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

	Research Volunteer	Research Technician
Average salary	$54,668	$43,034
Salary range	Between $34,000 And $85,000	Between $31,000 And $59,000
Highest paying City	-	Pasadena, CA
Highest paying state	-	Connecticut
Best paying company	-	GCP Applied Technologies
Best paying industry	-	Manufacturing

Differences between research volunteer and research technician education

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

	Research Volunteer	Research Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Most common major	Biology	Biology
Most common college	Harvard University	Cornell University

Research volunteer vs research technician demographics

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

	Research Volunteer	Research Technician
Average age	38	40
Gender ratio	Male, 38.7% Female, 61.3%	Male, 49.3% Female, 50.7%
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, 12.0% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.1% Asian, 16.5% White, 49.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.4%
LGBT Percentage	8%	6%

Differences between research volunteer and research technician 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 technician example responsibilities.

Manage a DNA database and work with researchers to retrieve or send out samples and results.
Lead experiments to assess survivor behavior differences in zebrafish contaminate with dietary mercury.
Prepare reagents for use in processing samples, DNA and RNA extractions, and QC.
Investigate and validate various acute phase protein assays as OA biomarkers in rodent animal models.
Perform DNA extraction and analysis for the purpose of identifying bacterial strand for waste stream characterization.
Extend course knowledge of CRISPR to experiment.

Research volunteer vs research technician skills

Common research volunteer skills

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

Common research technician skills

Patients, 9%
Data Collection, 6%
Cell Culture, 5%
Laboratory Equipment, 5%
Research Projects, 4%
Lab Equipment, 3%

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Research Volunteer
Research Volunteer vs Research Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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