Senior research chemist vs research fellow

The differences between senior research chemists and research fellows can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a senior research chemist has an average salary of $95,520, which is higher than the $53,823 average annual salary of a research fellow.

The top three skills for a senior research chemist include R, chemistry and product development. The most important skills for a research fellow are patients, research projects, and data analysis.

Senior research chemist vs research fellow overview

	Senior Research Chemist	Research Fellow
Yearly salary	$95,520	$53,823
Hourly rate	$45.92	$25.88
Growth rate	6%	17%
Number of jobs	55,511	59,746
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	42	41
Years of experience	-	4

Senior research chemist vs research fellow salary

Senior research chemists and research fellows have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Research Chemist	Research Fellow
Average salary	$95,520	$53,823
Salary range	Between $69,000 And $130,000	Between $39,000 And $72,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	South San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	Hawaii
Best paying company	Crunchbase	McKinsey & Company Inc
Best paying industry	Pharmaceutical	Non Profits

Differences between senior research chemist and research fellow education

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

	Senior Research Chemist	Research Fellow
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	Duke University

Senior research chemist vs research fellow demographics

Here are the differences between senior research chemists' and research fellows' demographics:

	Senior Research Chemist	Research Fellow
Average age	42	41
Gender ratio	Male, 79.1% Female, 20.9%	Male, 55.3% Female, 44.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 27.5% White, 52.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	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	5%	8%

Differences between senior research chemist and research fellow duties and responsibilities

Senior research chemist example responsibilities.

Manage an analytical laboratory, which include SEM-EDS, GC-MS, GPC, FT-IR, ICP-MS, TGA and DSC equipment.
Conduct HPLC analysis of two main products to support equivalency programs.
Establish the fast HPLC column screening system and serve as super user.
Calculate amounts of unknown components of a distillation bottoms mixture using NMR.
Train over twenty plant operators and scientists to use the FTIR system.
Act as leading analyst to provide analytical services to several GMP API productions.

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.

Senior research chemist vs research fellow skills

Common senior research chemist skills

R, 16%
Chemistry, 14%
Product Development, 8%
Analytical Laboratory, 6%
Organic Synthesis, 4%
Polymer, 4%

Common research fellow skills

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

Senior Research Chemist vs. similar jobs

Senior Research Chemist related careers

Senior Research Chemist related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Life, Physical, and Social Science Industry
Senior Research Chemist
Senior Research Chemist vs Research Fellow

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse life, physical, and social science jobs