Take a quick look at Indeed:
https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=structural+biologist&l=Boston%...
Amgen, Senior Scientist - $125-$150
UCB, Scientist I - $96-$125
Noblis, Molecular and Cellular Biology Specialist - $109,100 to $190,900 with 8+ years of relevant experience.
Actalent, Sr. Engineer of Internal Cell Culture Development and Manufacturing - $80-$115
Which program did you do your PhD at!!!!
Even UCSC has a stipend of $24k, BU a stipend of $27k, and UIUC a stipend of $25k.
No offense, but it's sounding like you attended a non-target program. At that point it absolutely makes sense to switch to software.
Also, you may need some hiring mentorship. Indeed is not the best platform for roles.
Also, Assoc to Sr Assoc is just 1.5-2 years so you are absolutely going to break $100k in 2 years
I wasn't a great undergraduate and didn't have the background I'd have liked for the field I went into. I took a gamble on myself and it paid off, but yeah, there are some PhD programs out there that do pay a bit more. However, I am aware of a couple that actually paid less.
Just saying "R1, public land grant university" isn't relevant.
> I wasn't a great undergraduate and didn't have the background I'd have liked for the field I went into
That was your problem. Not "H1Bs" or "foreign" researchers.
UC Berkeley alone can graduate around 700-800 Bio and bio related undergrads (MCB, Chemistry, etc) a year. Let alone the dozens of other similar programs (UCs, UMich, UW, Big 10, etc)
That said, with your background in structural bio you will do well in the bioinformatics and potentially even ML space, and will probably be able to realize some actual changes that you wouldn't be able to in the more traditional and hierarchical system that exists today in Life Science research.
There are 146 R1 universities in the United States. There are about 35 in the western half of the United States. There are no R1 universities in Alaska. There are 105 public R1s. R1 universities are widely considered the top tier for PhDs. In my field, I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to get hands on training with a new, otherwise inaccessible technique. I did well, and like I said, was recruited heavily. This included turning down a job at the premier institute in Germany where this technique (cryo-electron microscopy) was basically developed. My PI was prestigious and well respected in the field. His previous students went on to ultimately take director positions at places like Pfizer.
Yes, I could have taken $30k/year to go a school on the California coast, but it'd have come out to about the same once you adjust for cost of living.
>That was your problem. Not "H1Bs" or "foreign" researchers. $16,800 is not significantly less than what other PhD programs I looked at were paying. Low 20s was pretty common.
From what I remember, Cornell was paying like $24k/yr at the time.
When? Your numbers don't make sense in the late 2010s to present.
Even my friends working as Sr Associate Scientists (BS only) for employers like Pfizer or Biogen are earning $100-140k base after barely 2 YoE, and younger friends and family of mine are getting $100-110k base for new grad roles now