Can you be a research fellow without a Ph.D.?

Yes, you can be a research fellow without a Ph.D., though many fellowships do require it. For those looking to enter the research fellowship field, having equivalent equal to or greater than the education gained with a Ph.D. has been known to be accepted in certain instances, depending on the industry.

Do you get paid to be a research fellow?

Yes, you get paid to be a research fellow. Payment is often based on industry, location, and experience level. There are employer or university-specific requirements for some positions to be paid out. However, the general consensus for a research fellow is a regular paycheck provided by the institution or employer providing the position.

How To Become A Research Fellow: What It Is and Career Path

What is a research fellow and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Experts

Dr. Betsy Smith,

Daniel Patten Ph.D.

As the name implies, as a Research Fellow, you will be conducting research and analysis of comprehensive results, literature, and data. You will be supervising research assistants and recruiting study participants for specific studies.

For the educational requirement, a Research Fellow needs to have a doctorate relevant to the discipline and should have published papers that are peer-reviewed. As a Research Fellow, you can be supervised or independent.

The top skills Research Fellow applicants include in their resumes include Molecular Biology, Data Analysis, Cell Culture, Research Projects, and Ph.D. You might want to brush up your knowledge on these things and make sure you are knowledgeable in the field you will be applying to.

You can earn an average annual salary of $49,120 with a job growth rate of 8%. You can also explore other careers like being a Research Scientist, a Scientist, and a Senior Scientist.

What general advice would you give to a Research Fellow?

Dr. Betsy Smith

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Elmira College

I would advise students just graduating to be flexible and open-minded in their job search. Chemistry is a challenging major, and students who succeed in it have learned how to learn, so they shouldn't assume that pure chemistry is the only thing they can do. One growing field is biomedical research, and chemistry majors are often qualified for jobs in that area. If you have other strengths, like writing, there are often jobs that can combine them as a technical writer or work for a science journal. There are jobs out there that might be perfect for you that you haven't heard of until you see an ad for it, so be open to different possibilities.

ScoreResearch FellowUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $53,823

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.3

Growth Rate 17%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.15%

Asian 27.12%

Black or African American 6.35%

Hispanic or Latino 9.58%

Unknown 4.10%

White 52.70%

Gender

female 44.68%

male 55.32%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress Level

6.3

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.8

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

4.7

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Newest jobs for Research Fellow in ,

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Key steps to become a research fellow

Explore research fellow education requirements

Most common research fellow degrees

Bachelor's

47.3 %

Doctorate

31.9 %

Master's

18.4 %

Start to develop specific research fellow skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	9.88%
Research Projects	5.60%
Data Analysis	5.11%
Cell Culture	4.62%
Immunology	4.46%

Complete relevant research fellow training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New research fellows learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a research fellow based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real research fellow resumes.

Research research fellow duties and 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.

Prepare your research fellow resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your research fellow resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a research fellow resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Research Fellow Resume templates

Build a professional Research Fellow resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Research Fellow resume.

Apply for research fellow jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a research fellow job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do research fellows rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Research Fellow reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2020

Pros

Exploring more about reseaching field by building knowledge in a certain subject of research and growing the wisdom and knowledge.

Cons

The struggle of not breaking a certain research topic.

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2020

Cons

Nothing really, it's just that sometimes getting data can be very difficult

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2019

Cons

None

What is a research fellow and how to become one

What general advice would you give to a Research Fellow?

Newest jobs for Research Fellow in ,

Research Fellow career paths

Key steps to become a research fellow

Explore research fellow education requirements

Most common research fellow degrees

Start to develop specific research fellow skills

Complete relevant research fellow training and internships

Research research fellow duties and responsibilities

Prepare your research fellow resume

Choose From 10+ Customizable Research Fellow Resume templates

Apply for research fellow jobs

How Did You Land Your First Research Fellow Job

Average research fellow salary

How do research fellows rate their job?

Research Fellow reviews

Research Fellow FAQs

Can you be a research fellow without a Ph.D.?

Do you get paid to be a research fellow?

Search for research fellow jobs

Research Fellow jobs by state