Senior laboratory scientist vs postdoctoral associate

The differences between senior laboratory scientists 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 senior laboratory scientist and a postdoctoral associate. Additionally, a senior laboratory scientist has an average salary of $88,562, which is higher than the $54,350 average annual salary of a postdoctoral associate.

The top three skills for a senior laboratory scientist include GMP, FDA and cell culture. The most important skills for a postdoctoral associate are patients, TIP, and data analysis.

Senior laboratory scientist vs postdoctoral associate overview

	Senior Laboratory Scientist	Postdoctoral Associate
Yearly salary	$88,562	$54,350
Hourly rate	$42.58	$26.13
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	77,364	18,093
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Doctoral Degree, 47%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	4	4

Senior laboratory scientist vs postdoctoral associate salary

Senior laboratory scientists and postdoctoral associates have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Laboratory Scientist	Postdoctoral Associate
Average salary	$88,562	$54,350
Salary range	Between $61,000 And $128,000	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 senior laboratory scientist and postdoctoral associate education

There are a few differences between a senior laboratory scientist and a postdoctoral associate in terms of educational background:

	Senior Laboratory Scientist	Postdoctoral Associate
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Doctoral Degree, 47%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	Duke University	Duke University

Senior laboratory scientist vs postdoctoral associate demographics

Here are the differences between senior laboratory scientists' and postdoctoral associates' demographics:

	Senior Laboratory Scientist	Postdoctoral Associate
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 75.0% Female, 25.0%	Male, 63.2% Female, 36.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 26.5% White, 53.7% 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 senior laboratory scientist and postdoctoral associate duties and responsibilities

Senior laboratory scientist example responsibilities.

Manage study protocols and study conduct, intimately involve in the toxicology and pharmacokinetic study protocol development process.
Enter results into LIMS database.
Generate reports and deliver of presentations to support submissions to FDA.
Establish quantitative, proprietary method for measurement of menstrual blood loss (now register with FDA).
Key activities include process chemistry development, synthesis of intermediates, compound purification and structure identification, and comprehensive scientific documentation.
Interpret metabolism data and review reports to support strategies forward thinking with a specialization in drug metabolism and metabolic enzymes.

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.

Senior laboratory scientist vs postdoctoral associate skills

Common senior laboratory scientist skills

GMP, 9%
FDA, 9%
Cell Culture, 9%
Analytical Methods, 7%
R, 6%
Method Development, 6%

Common postdoctoral associate skills

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

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Senior Laboratory Scientist
Senior Laboratory Scientist vs Postdoctoral Associate

Updated January 8, 2025

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