academics - what's in a job title: research fellow cf research assistant

[hatwoman]

just wondering whether it really matters...or is output the key consideration? and how much does the kind of insitution matter - or, again, is it output that matters?

It's output that matters but the title can affect the output. I'd always expect a rf to have first authorship on most of their core work whic is not necessarily the case for an ra. A rf is usually expected to work more independently and have more ownership of the work. ra can work as a rf but not always.

And the status and reputation of the principle investigator is key.

It is a scale - a grade.

Research assistant
Research officer
Research Fellow

Is the order as far as I can remember.

You are highly unlikley to have a fellow post without a PhD. I would expect a research fellow to have their own research ideas and carry it all out independently with guidance from a mentor. Salary 31k +

A research assistant basically does the research work for someone else so they are recruited to a project, told what to do and so on. Salary 25k+

Research officer is somewhere in the middle. Salary 28k+

Are you saying you have an option of two jobs? Need a few more details to help

Does the institution matter - ideally yes. However it would be better to have a job than no job. Who is running the research is often more important.

Outputs - essential for getting anywhere. Authorship of peer reviewed high impact journals.

thanks both. I'm a bit mystified by the salary of an RA job as it's the same as an RF job in the same institution (different department) abt 31 iirc. I'm also trying to get a feel for how much scope there'll be for independent research (have laready had a number of articles published and would hope to continue publishing my own stuff). don't really want to give out too many details though.

Why not email and ask (not the salary bit but the own research bit). It could be that they specifically want someone well qualified to do a specific piece of work for them for the RA post whereas perhaps they want an RF in an open area / to contribute more ideas?

And I remember you now! I am still here being miserable ... we have a thread - pm me and I can direct you

thanks peppa - I had an informal chat, and asked about the scope for independent research. got quite a vague answer tbh. got an interview next week so might get a better idea then. It's with a brilliant uni so am v excited by that...

ooh fab fingers crossed then!

IME 'Research Assistant' does research directed by someone else. Research Fellows direct and instigate their own research.

The vague answer you got is probably because you will not get the opportunity to do independent research but tey dont want to frighten you off.

Sorry but titles matter a lot in academic as well as professional life. If they didnt matter, titles wouldn't exist.

Hope the interview goes well but really I would probe hard about exactly the difference between RA and RF is. I suspect it is a lot more than they are admitting.

Does the job advert have a HERA grade on it?

G7? no idea if that's a HERA grade.

G7 would usually be RA level e.g. told what to do, do their ideas for them.

An RF should be at least an 8 if not a 9

Lots of helpful advice here. One other thing is that "junior research fellows" in Oxford and Cambridge (and sometimes elsewhere) are a bit different - college posts, quite prestigious, but very junior (i.e. just post-PhD), usually not very well paid. They would expect you to be pursuing and publishing your own research though (rather than doing work directed by others). These can be a bit confusing in comparison to the terms used for research posts elsewhere.

Ah good point!

I've found the titles can differ from institution to institution as well. In my current place (a university) a research associate is effectively equivalent to research assistant, whereas where I worked before (research institute) it was the most senior postdoc position. Similarly the university uses research fellow to mean postdoc, rather than someone with an independent fellowship.

Hope the interview goes well and you can get a good feel on the level of independence.

I'd agree with chutneypig. At our place, research fellow usually means postdoc rather than someone with an independent fellowship (salary scale is usually around £28-35k). This is usually used interchangeably with research associate, which is on the same payscale. We don't generally use the term research assistant at all, so far as I'm aware.