Staff associate of research vs research technician

The differences between staff associate of research and research technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a staff associate of research and a research technician. Additionally, a staff associate of research has an average salary of $64,982, which is higher than the $43,034 average annual salary of a research technician.

The top three skills for a staff associate of research include patients, data collection and molecular biology. The most important skills for a research technician are patients, data collection, and cell culture.

Staff associate of research vs research technician overview

	Staff Associate Of Research	Research Technician
Yearly salary	$64,982	$43,034
Hourly rate	$31.24	$20.69
Growth rate	17%	9%
Number of jobs	120,096	64,786
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Average age	41	40
Years of experience	4	4

What does a staff associate of research do?

A staff associate of research is responsible for performing and conducting research studies to support the research department of an organization or educational institution. Staff associates of research gather data from field investigation, verify its accuracy, and write reports of findings according to research requirements and methodologies. They also contribute significant areas of study according to market demands and public needs. A staff associate of research must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in coding information on the database and revising content as needed.

What does a research technician do?

A research technician is responsible for assisting in research studies and laboratory experiments. Research technicians operate laboratory tools and equipment, process data for experiments, collect samples for study, analyze existing research materials, analyze experiment results, manage inventories and stock supplies, record observations, and create reports for further examination. A research technician must have strong analytical and scientific knowledge, as well as a passion for research writing and investigations crucial for this kind of industry.

Staff associate of research vs research technician salary

Staff associate of research and research technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Staff Associate Of Research	Research Technician
Average salary	$64,982	$43,034
Salary range	Between $45,000 And $92,000	Between $31,000 And $59,000
Highest paying City	Oak Ridge, TN	Pasadena, CA
Highest paying state	Connecticut	Connecticut
Best paying company	NVIDIA	GCP Applied Technologies
Best paying industry	Technology	Manufacturing

Differences between staff associate of research and research technician education

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

	Staff Associate Of Research	Research Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Most common major	Biology	Biology
Most common college	University of Southern California	Cornell University

Staff associate of research vs research technician demographics

Here are the differences between staff associate of research' and research technicians' demographics:

	Staff Associate Of Research	Research Technician
Average age	41	40
Gender ratio	Male, 48.1% Female, 51.9%	Male, 49.3% Female, 50.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 28.8% White, 50.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	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 staff associate of research and research technician duties and responsibilities

Staff associate of research example responsibilities.

Manage a NIH grant study using MRI to determine relationship between bone and cartilage in osteoarthritic knees.
Manage a clinical pharmaceutical trial attempting to improve attention and behavior in Parkinson's disease patients with cognitive impairment.
Introduce new mutations into DNA vectors using PCR and other techniques, test the mutations with gel electrophoresis.
Complete data collection from various clinical populations including patients with traumatic brain injury and epilepsy.
Perform fermentation experiments, enzymatic assays, gel electrophoresis, RNA isolation and purification and HPLC testing.
Test samples for different studies using ELISA kits and NanoDrop spectrophotometer.

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.

Staff associate of research vs research technician skills

Common staff associate of research skills

Patients, 7%
Data Collection, 6%
Molecular Biology, 5%
Data Analysis, 5%
Laboratory Equipment, 5%
Data Entry, 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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Staff Associate Of Research
Staff Associate Of Research vs Research Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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