Senior laboratory scientist vs postdoctoral scholar

The differences between senior laboratory scientists and postdoctoral scholars 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 scholar. Additionally, a senior laboratory scientist has an average salary of $88,562, which is higher than the $57,587 average annual salary of a postdoctoral scholar.

The top three skills for a senior laboratory scientist include GMP, FDA and cell culture. The most important skills for a postdoctoral scholar are chemistry, python, and patients.

Senior laboratory scientist vs postdoctoral scholar overview

	Senior Laboratory Scientist	Postdoctoral Scholar
Yearly salary	$88,562	$57,587
Hourly rate	$42.58	$27.69
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	77,364	18,983
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	4	4

Senior laboratory scientist vs postdoctoral scholar salary

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

	Senior Laboratory Scientist	Postdoctoral Scholar
Average salary	$88,562	$57,587
Salary range	Between $61,000 And $128,000	Between $41,000 And $79,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	Microsoft
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between senior laboratory scientist and postdoctoral scholar education

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

	Senior Laboratory Scientist	Postdoctoral Scholar
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	Duke University	Duke University

Senior laboratory scientist vs postdoctoral scholar demographics

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

	Senior Laboratory Scientist	Postdoctoral Scholar
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 75.0% Female, 25.0%	Male, 53.0% Female, 47.0%
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, 6.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 26.3% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between senior laboratory scientist and postdoctoral scholar 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 scholar example responsibilities.

Lead community-based health projects on and off campus as an Oslerian student scholar.
Lead the in-vitro biophysical and biochemical characterization of homologous recombination and investigate structure-function effects of mutant enzymes.
Utilize basic organic and inorganic chemistry techniques including polymer synthesis and NMR spectroscopy.
Train graduate students on molecular biology techniques- DNA and RNA extraction and qPCR.
Contribute to successful NIH grant proposals.
Develop HPLC analysis method for skin folate.

Senior laboratory scientist vs postdoctoral scholar skills

Common senior laboratory scientist skills

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

Common postdoctoral scholar skills

Chemistry, 10%
Python, 8%
Patients, 6%
Data Analysis, 6%
NIH, 5%
C++, 5%

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Senior Laboratory Scientist
Senior Laboratory Scientist vs Postdoctoral Scholar

Updated January 8, 2025

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