Research Associate (General)
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Research Associate typically has more experience than a Research Assistant. Responsibilities can include the planning and design of research projects, conducting experiments, analyzing data, contributing to research publications or grant proposals, and collaborating with other researchers. Works in a variety of fields within science or the social sciences, in programs based at a university or research institution, or works on government or industry sponsored research projects. Conducts field or library research or recruits participants for a study; may also assist with legal research. These roles are often held by people with advanced degrees in their field of study with several years of experience in research or academia.
Job Outlook
There were 558 Research Associate (General) job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 20652 in the United States.
We do not have this data at this time.
Salary
Many new Research Associate (General) jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $80,561.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $74,831.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Research Associate (General) postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $62,146.
Education and Experience
Posted Research Associate (General) jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 46.47% |
| Master's Degree | 29.67% |
| Doctoral Degree | 33.88% |
| Other | 5.37% |
Posted Research Associate (General) jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 52.63% |
| 3 to 5 years | 37.32% |
| 6 to 8 years | 6.48% |
| 9+ years | 3.56% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Research Associate (General) positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Research (93.4%)
- Communication (36.12%)
- Writing (30.58%)
- Management (22.21%)
- Detail Oriented (21.97%)
- Presentations (20.97%)
- Verbal Communication Skills (14.72%)
- Microsoft Excel (13.34%)
- Organizational Skills (12.97%)
- Operations (12.88%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Data Analysis (28.97%)
- Cell Cultures (9.92%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Laboratory Experience (8.04%)
- Statistical Analysis (6.46%)
- Cell Biology (7.41%)
- Molecular Biology (10.34%)
- Laboratory Equipment (8.09%)
- Artificial Intelligence (5.12%)
- Data Management (8.89%)
- Biochemistry (9.03%)
- Accounting (5.04%)
- Biology (17.66%)
- Computer Science (7.84%)
- Chemistry (9.22%)
- Data Collection (20.93%)
- Biochemical Assays (11.93%)
- R (Programming Language) (11.79%)
- Economics (8.02%)
- Finance (7.41%)
- Clinical Trials (7.65%)
- Clinical Research (8.41%)
- Research Methodologies (7.09%)
- Standard Operating Procedure (5.58%)
- Python (Programming Language) (14.28%)
- Physics (6.92%)
- Machine Learning (7.01%)
- Project Management (11.86%)
- Polymerase Chain Reaction (6.14%)
- Statistics (11.96%)
- Research Experiences (13.96%)
- Institutional Review Board (IRB) (9.09%)
- Literature Reviews (5.13%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Tissue Culture (3.63%)
- Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent (ELISA) Assay (4.81%)
- Western Blot (4.38%)
- Securities Research (3.51%)
- Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reactions (4.08%)
- Ribonucleic Acid Sequencing (5.21%)
- Interdisciplinary Research (1.88%)
- Mammalian Cell Cultures (2.89%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Interdisciplinary Research (34.88%)
- Securities Research (65.12%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Research Associate (General) skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Research Associate
- Postdoctoral Research Associate
- Postdoctoral Researcher
- Equity Research Associate
- Postdoctoral Associate
- Associate Director of Research
- Clinical Research Associate
- Institutional Research Associate
- Associate Research Manager
- Research Assistant
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Research Assistant
- Research Technician
- Research Scientist
- Medical Research Scientist
- Biologist (General)
- Research Analyst
- Molecular Biologist
- Infectious Disease Scientist
- Assay Development Scientist
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Research Associate (General) jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (618)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (440)
- Cedars-Sinai (425)
- University of Pennsylvania (365)
- University of California (298)
- University of Miami (238)
- Princeton University (216)
- Actalent (163)
- JPMorgan Chase (162)
- Pennsylvania State University (156)
North Carolina
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (77)
- Duke University (43)
- University of North Carolina (41)
- North Carolina State University (32)
- North Carolina State Of (19)
- North Carolina A & T State University (17)
- Atrium Health Floyd (16)
- Actalent (14)
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (11)
- Soelect (11)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
- Agriculture Data Science Graduate Certificates
- Fundamentals of Entomology Undergraduate Certificates
- Microbiology Undergraduate Certificates
- Statistics Master's Degrees
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.