This is a difficult question, but very important considering the
changing roles of IT and life science professionals. First, as a mass
spectrometrist, I feel that all mass spec people should make the most ;-).
Given that, and on a more serious note, from the list you provided,
aside from bioinformatics and computer scientist, the remainder of the list
could all be classified as "chemists" and the most useful guide would be the
Chemical and Engineering News annual salary survey. The most recent version
is in the Aug. 14th, 2000 issue, and PDF of older surveys are located at
http://www.acs.org/careers/empres/pubs01.html . The nice thing about this
survey is that the "n" is very large, as the American Chemical Society is
largest scientific society in the world, if I'm not mistaken. The survey
also seems to be very consistent. I've checked it every year it's come out,
and I'm consistently underpaid compared with the results ;-). The other
nice thing is that it breaks things down comparing academics, government and
industry.
On the bioinformatics vs. computer scientist, I would have to pay
the bioinfo folks more than CS folks, just based on the additional
biology/biochemistry/chemistry knowledge which is required, especially at
the Ph.D. level. The real question is whether they are worth more than the
chemists or biologists that generate the data that requires bioinformatics
in the first place. I would put them on par, but I couldn't justify paying
them more.
Finally to round things out, all of the listed professionals should
make more than lawyers and basketball/football/baseball players. And high
school and elementary school teachers should make more than all of us.
That's my fantasy world and welcome to it!
Best Regards,
Jack Simpson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack Simpson, Ph.D.
Laboratory Director
Center for Medical and Molecular Genetics
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
1413 Research Boulevard
Rockville, MD 20850
Email: simpsonjt@afip.osd.mil
Phone: 301-319-0209, Fax: 301-295-9507
web: http://sx102a.niddk.nih.gov/jack
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> -----Original Message-----
> From: alex bell [SMTP:ehjb@musica.mcgill.ca]
> Sent: Sunday, October 15, 2000 10:12 AM
> To: Recipients of ABRF List
> Cc: autoseq@net.bio.net
> Subject: Re: Bioinformatics position at Iowa State University
>
> Dear All,
>
> It is not often that we get to see minimum salary levels and this raises a
> questions.
>
> There are some suggestions, indications that bioinformaticians 'fit into',
> demand, expect a higher salary than others at an equivalent level.
>
> How would/should one rank the following specialist in terms of salary,
> given
> equivalency?
>
> bioinformatician : computer scientist : crystallographer : mass
> spectrometrist : NMR spectrometrist protein chemist (I have listed these
> alphabetically)
>
> Thanks in advance,
> alex
>
> Alexander Bell
> Anatomy and Cell Biology
> McGill University
> Montreal Quebec Canada
>
> phone (514)398-1393
> fax (514)398-5047
> email ehjb@musica.mcgill.ca
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Harold G. Hills" <hhills@iastate.edu>
> To: "Recipients of ABRF List" <abrf@aecom.yu.edu>
> Cc: <autoseq@net.bio.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2000 6:43 AM
> Subject: Bioinformatics position at Iowa State University
>
>
> > A bioinformatics position is available at Iowa State University. The
> > job posting is at the URL below.
> >
> >
> > http://www.iastate.edu/~hrs_info/jobs/4prof.htm#003220
> >
> >
> > ASSOCIATE SCIENTIST
> >
> > Top
> >
> > Title List
> >
> > HRS Home
> >
> > Vacancy Number:
> > 003498
> > Department:
> > LAURENCE H. BAKER CENTER FOR BIOINFORMATICS
> > AND BIOLOGICAL STATISTICS
> > Proposed Start Date:
> > AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
> > Appointment Conditions:
> > Continuous, 12 Months, Full Time
> > Special Conditions:
> > Description:
> > The Associate Scientist provides
> > bioinformatics support to faculty working with large amounts of DNA
> > sequence data to mine biological
> > information from the data. The individual
> > consults with and trains faculty and students in the use of
> > bioinformatics software and the computer
> > equipment on which the software resides.
> > The Associate Scientist helps to hire and manage a team of analysts
> > to meet the needs of the
> > bioinformatics community.
> > Required Qualifications:
> > Ph.D. and 2 years of related experience in
> > a computational or biological science, or a master's degree and 5
> > years of related experience in
> > computational or biological science.
> > Preferred Qualifications:
> > Familiarity with the common bioinformatics
> > software and databases
> > Salary/Wage:
> > $45,218 minimum, commensurate with
> qualifications
> > Application Deadline:
> > To guarantee consideration, application
> > must be received by December 1, 2000.
> > Application Instructions:
> > Please send letter of application,
> > curriculum vitae, names, addresses and telephone numbers of three
> > references to: Dr. Hal Stern, Interim Director,
> > Laurence H. Baker Center for Bioinformatics
> > and Biological Statistics, 102 F Snedecor Hall, Iowa State
> > University, Ames, IA 50011-1210.
> > Harold G. Hills, Ph.D. DNA Sequencing Specialist 515 294-9585
> > 1184 Molecular Biology Building FAX 515 294-1597
> > Iowa State University
> hhills@iastate.edu
> > Ames, IA 50011-3260
> > http://www.biotech.iastate.edu/Facilities/DSSF/ABRF Information on
> > trouble shooting 377 DNA sequencing results
> > http://www.dna.iastate.edu For info about facility.
> >
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 23 2000 - 10:23:17 EDT