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What does a senior research fellow do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
Quoted expert
Dr. Betsy Smith
What does a senior research fellow do

Senior Research Fellows are reputable researchers employed in an academic institution or a research facility. The nature of their employment in the institution is related to their research work or field of interest. Senior Research Fellows lead a team of researchers on big projects that require more team members. They manage the team's budget, set timelines, and guide the researchers. They spearhead the analysis of the data gathered. They also set the tone for the presentation materials. Senior Research Fellows should be passionate about their field, should have a thirst for knowledge, and should be able to lead teams.

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Senior research fellow responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior research fellow resumes:

  • Lead a project aim at improving DNA yields from various soil types in Dr. Connell's lab.
  • Manage grant base research and submit the grant proposal to ICAR and get approved for fund research.
  • Mentore a graduate student on the following topics: study design, literature reviews, drafting data plans and SAS.
  • Contribute to the creation of new markup standards for scholarship in the humanities.
  • Research unidentify payments and patients.
  • Conduct long-term observations of grind water dynamics and chemistry.
  • Analyze and interpret study data from an NIH sponsor longitudinal aging project.
  • Structure modification - medicinal chemistry of select lead compounds by synthetic organic chemistry.
  • Provide crystallographic analysis, including synthesis, structure determination and structure-property relationship study.
  • Initiate and perform research on neurological disorders, oncology, immunology and neural regeneration.
  • Perform statistical analyses on scientific data using SPSS software, publishing data in peer-review journals.
  • Analyze usefulness of several glycoproteinconstituents and enzymes as tumor markers in head and neck malignancies.
  • Participate in the research for economical synthesis of less toxic mushroom antibiotic derivatives for human usage.
  • Elucidate a sequence of defense relate enzymes when express in mycorrhizal colonize plants upon attack of pathogen.
  • Validate findings by electron microscopy perform quantitative and qualitative analysis of protein profile with BCA analysis and SDS-PAGE.

Senior research fellow skills and personality traits

We calculated that 12% of Senior Research Fellows are proficient in Python, Research Projects, and Data Analysis. They’re also known for soft skills such as Observation skills, Communication skills, and Interpersonal skills.

We break down the percentage of Senior Research Fellows that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Python, 12%

    Delivered introductory training sessions on PySpark and Python.

  • Research Projects, 8%

    Managed collaborative / group research projects in geochemistry including proposal writing, expedition participation, research and results dissemination

  • Data Analysis, 6%

    Performed data analysis, organization, graphs and statistical analysis.

  • C++, 6%

    Developed a C++ application for business process re-engineering.

  • Research Findings, 5%

    Drafted scientific documents summarizing research findings for publication in peer-reviewed journals.

  • Data Collection, 4%

    Developed algorithm and software for cardiac data collection/analysis were applied in the microprocessor based devices.

"python," "research projects," and "data analysis" are among the most common skills that senior research fellows use at work. You can find even more senior research fellow responsibilities below, including:

Observation skills. The most essential soft skill for a senior research fellow to carry out their responsibilities is observation skills. This skill is important for the role because "medical scientists conduct experiments that require monitoring samples and other health-related data." Additionally, a senior research fellow resume shows how their duties depend on observation skills: "led participant recruitment, team training, survey and observational data collection, data analysis and synthesis. "

Communication skills. Many senior research fellow duties rely on communication skills. "medical scientists must be able to explain their research in nontechnical ways," so a senior research fellow will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways senior research fellow responsibilities rely on communication skills: "managed omnibus survey research; including fielding, data collection, analysis, coding, and client communications. "

See the full list of senior research fellow skills

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Compare different senior research fellows

Senior research fellow vs. Postdoctoral associate

A postdoctoral associate is responsible for researching to support scientific claims and theories by collecting evidence and information to answer scientific questions. Postdoctoral associates must have excellent communication skills, both oral and written, to interact with people and document investigation findings. They also utilize laboratory tools and equipment for scientific researches, conduct field investigations, and interview participants. A postdoctoral associate designs comprehensive research models to discuss results with the panel and the team efficiently and accurately.

The annual salary of postdoctoral associates is $7,779 lower than the average salary of senior research fellows.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both senior research fellow and postdoctoral associate positions are skilled in python, research projects, and data analysis.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, senior research fellow responsibilities require skills like "technical assistance," "product development," "prototyping," and "spss." Meanwhile a typical postdoctoral associate has skills in areas such as "tip," "biomedical," "cell biology," and "pi." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Postdoctoral associates tend to reach lower levels of education than senior research fellows. In fact, postdoctoral associates are 11.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 29.8% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Senior research fellow vs. Associate scientist

An Associate Scientist assists in various experiments and research, working under the direction of a lead scientist. Their specialties may include biological life sciences, geo-science, atmospheric physics, and computing.

A career as a associate scientist brings a higher average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a senior research fellow. In fact, associate scientists salary is $14,332 higher than the salary of senior research fellows per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both senior research fellows and associate scientists have skills such as "data analysis," "data collection," and "statistical analysis. "

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that senior research fellow responsibilities requires skills like "python," "research projects," "c++," and "research findings." But an associate scientist might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "gmp," "lab equipment," "flow cytometry," and "glp."

Average education levels between the two professions vary. Associate scientists tend to reach lower levels of education than senior research fellows. In fact, they're 8.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 29.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for senior research fellows in the next 3-5 years?

Dr. Betsy SmithDr. Betsy Smith LinkedIn profile

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Elmira College

Honestly, I think anytime a scientist tries to predict what will be "big" in a few years, they're likely to fail. That said, I think there's a growing interest among consumers for more "green" products, so research into those areas will likely grow. For instance, we might see attempts to develop new plastics that are safer for the environment and humans, perhaps biodegradable. Organic chemistry traditionally uses harsh solvents and chemicals that are difficult to dispose of safely, so there is an effort to find alternatives to these. Analytical chemistry techniques for separating and identifying compounds, like GC-MS (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry), will likely continue to be necessary. CRISPR, the relatively new gene-editing technology, is likely to become even more widely used on the biochemistry side of things.

Senior research fellow vs. Scientist

A scientist is responsible for researching and analyzing the nature and complexities of the physical world to identify discoveries that would improve people's lives and ignite scientific knowledge for society. Scientists' duties differ in their different areas of expertise, but all of them must have a broad comprehension of scientific disciplines and methods to support their experiments and investigations. They collect the sample for their research, record findings, create research proposals, and release publications. A scientist must know how to utilize laboratory equipment to support the study and drive results efficiently and accurately.

An average scientist eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of senior research fellows. The difference in salaries amounts to scientists earning a $35,215 higher average salary than senior research fellows.Using the responsibilities included on senior research fellows and scientists resumes, we found that both professions have similar skill requirements, such as "research projects," "data analysis," and "data collection.rdquo;

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, senior research fellows are more likely to have skills like "python," "c++," "research findings," and "technical assistance." But a scientist is more likely to have skills like "flow cytometry," "laboratory equipment," "gmp," and "method development."

When it comes to education, scientists tend to earn lower degree levels compared to senior research fellows. In fact, they're 6.4% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Senior research fellow vs. Research laboratory technician

Research laboratory technicians play a vital role in scientific laboratories. They perform varied duties and responsibilities, which include setting up, operating, and maintaining the laboratory equipment, assisting in laboratory-based research activities such as sampling, testing, and analyzing results, and providing technical support to the laboratory team members. In addition, they are expected to support the development and advancement of science and modern medicine. Other typical duties of research laboratory technicians include preparing samples and specimens, keeping abreast with current technical developments, and ensuring strict compliance with safety procedures.

Research laboratory technicians tend to earn a lower pay than senior research fellows by an average of $23,821 per year.While both senior research fellows and research laboratory technicians complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like research projects, data analysis, and data collection, the two careers vary in some skills.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between senior research fellows and research laboratory technicians, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a senior research fellow might have more use for skills like "python," "c++," "research findings," and "visualization." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of research laboratory technicians require skills like "laboratory equipment," "research data," "laboratory procedures," and "flow cytometry. "

The average resume of research laboratory technicians showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to senior research fellows. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 15.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 15.8%.

Types of senior research fellow

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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