research assistant

postdoctoral associate

research technician

senior research assistant

staff scientist

Scripps Research

Once arrived I would put my lunch in the fridge in the break room and clock in with Kronos. Go to the locker room and change into the provided uniform, put my hair up, put on my dedicated shoes and go to the office... Once in the office I would check my work email for any instructions given by my PI or Lab techs in my room, check my inbox for my schedule or notes from my supervisor (because I would get there before her), and go to my room... Depending on the day I can either be doing technical work ( Tagging and tailing or sentinels) or I would be changing cages... If I were to be tagging and tailing I would set up my bead sterilizer so it can get hot as I am doing my health checks. Once health checks are done and all floods are taken care of and sick mice were reported. I would go through my room and tag the cages that had 4 week old pups to be tagged and tailed and the cages that needed retails. Once done with that I would get my things together and start. If I had to cage change it would be easier and a faster set up than tagging and tailing... Management was always around to help if I needed her. My co workers were awesome... We all got along and worked as a team... If someone did happen to have a problem it wouldn't last long... We would always make up by the end of the day... The only part I found hard was the constant changes we would get from the dept manager... He wouldn't let anything have a chance to work... The most enjoyable thing I got out of my last job was the different cultures that I got to meet and learn about... How well others got along no racism or snide remarks from anyone who was prejudice... When we were within the walls of the vivarium it was our own world... When the day was done go to the office clock out of kronos after turning in all what you've done that day to the supervisor... Go to the locker room, shower, change back into your clothes, and go home to start it all over again the next day...

Essentially a training facility with a fairly minimal chance at a job. Supervisors assign projects to postdocs. Many of these projects will be good because they will lead to positive outcomes (publications). However it is not in the supervisor's best interest to assign projects that will lead to the postdoc getting a job for two reasons: The projects main goal is to get the supervisor's grant funded. This may not lead to skills that will be appreciated by future employers in the non-academic world (most likely). Second, if the postdoc is successful the supervisor may want to continue with that line of research, therefor the postdoc may not be able to get funding on that research because the supervisor may submit a competing grant application.

Keep in mind: This is an esteemed institution, but not all primary investigators are particularly good. Some seem to be quite incapable of designing experimental approaches that make much sense. These professors have a tendency to doctor their data. Other's seem to be quite distracted, and aren't following day to day or even week to week research progress and outcomes.

Non-profit research is funding dependent and so is compensation. TSRI has gone through financial issues since 2012 sequestration of Federal NIH funds. Cutbacks have sliced staff and doubled job tasks without compensation increases.

Management at the top level has had it's internal struggles with many leaders and little followers.  Stability is hard when several decide to jump ship for private opportunity.  Some of the big names do both with external enterprises as well as internal responsibilities. No one asks the underlings for opinions and no one tells them anything either. That can be more of a blessing until they let you go.

The most enjoyable part of the job is knowing that somehow you contribute to scientific breakthroughs and someone's Nobel Prize. It is then that you have a sense of pride in your job and accomplishment in your heart.

A nice place to work but watch out for the constant turn over and lack of experience with the management in this department . The hardest part of this job would be getting the proper training by any one person , everyone does something their own way and management claims to be too "busy" to  show everyone one way to do things but will come at you if you make a mistake in the way you do things. The job itself can be satisfying in what you do on the daily when you get the ability to do the job you were hired for and not someone else's due to the amount of turn over here. 

Scripps' workplace is challenging, yet conductive to learning.  A 
 typical day for the support staff is from 8 AM to 5 PM.  Management is supportive of the staff and researcher to try and create a family atmosphere and keep all employees safe.  The hardest part of the job is creating work relationships with researchers from various countries and within a year or two those researchers may no longer be part of the institute.  The most enjoyable part of the job is those researchers from various countries that you have an opportunity to interact with and learn something about their culture, their opportunities, and their lives in general.

Super fast paced and the shortage of staff is a constant thing, so you’re always with work overload. Keep in mind that you have to do a job in a place with thousands of animals with a short staff. And you have a small window to do all of your job and the job that should be another person’s. So it isn’t rare to see the husbandry people ending up with injuries for repetitive work in a fast pace environment. Supervisors are nice but the managers don’t really listen to the staff wishes. Benefits are good, there’s plenty of parking and pizza/lunch parties. If you’re willing to do the job of 2 people for the price of one, this is your place.

I really wanted to enjoy what I do here, but it is becoming more and more impossible. Favoritism is the name of the game here, and no matter how good or knowledgeable you are it is really about who likes you. For instance, if you didn't attend UC Davis don't bother working in DAR, your hard work will never pay off. There are also a lot of very toxic people in positions of power in DAR, and no matter how horrible they are to people they continue to remain employed at TSRI. This is why there has been a constant turn-over rate over the past few years. They also haven't given out a raise in almost 10 years, and promotions are consequently hard to come by.

Working at Scripps was a very positive experience. Yes, pay in academia is lower than that in industry, but the great benefits (medical, dental, retirement, etc) combined with the over all relaxed atmosphere at the workplace made it worth it. Of course, work environment depends on your PI, so ask questions when interviewing to make sure you're a good fit for the lab.

My former lab was excellent at teaching new skills and techniques; there was no such thing as a dumb question.

Job security depends on whether your lab is well funded or not. I don't know about working in core facilities/other TSRI service positions.


A typical day at work consisted of tissue culture, management of the lab,and cell based screens.
I learned a tremendous amount about starting up a lab and facility.
The management of the institute was from California and it was a little difficult without them on site.
My coworkers were really great,talented people devoted to the research.
The hardest part about working there was that the permanent site for the institute was challenged in court and had to be abandoned.  The uncertainty of this issue was a bit overwhelming.
The most enjoyable part of the jobs was working with some really amazing people.


What I appreciate about TSRI (The Scripps Research Institute) is that I got to learn a lot of technical work, and I am able to do that on a regular basis, learn about many species, able to work with multiple species (Mice, rats, rabbits, frogs, chickens, and primates). I supervise 3 washrooms and 1 facility with a crew of 7. At one time i was managing total of 16 people. So I have to multitask and mange my time between places and that makes the days go by fast. I enjoy my co-workers, we all work hard with little supervision. The hardest part of my job is that sometimes I care and think about my job when I am not working.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Research assistant 27 salaries reported	$22.97 per hour
Postdoctoral associate 48 salaries reported	$72,502 per year
Research technician 15 salaries reported	$21.33 per hour
Senior research assistant 15 salaries reported	$74,918 per year
Staff scientist 5 salaries reported	$89,814 per year

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