Post Doctoral Researcher Says Salary "Completely Commensurate" With Work

Ann Arbor, MI


Michael Coleman, PhD., a post doctoral chemist in the Martinez group at the University of Ann Arbor, Michigan, expressed complete satisfaction with his employment situation earlier today.  "I am truly grateful for the opportunity to continue learning techniques in organic chemistry under Professor Martinez," stated Coleman in a press release this morning.  "I feel that my salary and benefits, including five whole days of paid leave, are completely commensurate with the amount of work I put in to ensure the continued success of the lab."

Coleman, whose annual salary is $43,500 -- 1% less than the average starting salary of a bachelor degree holder -- went on to say that he, in no way, envied the lab's undergraduate student making $11/hour, an hourly rate only $3.50 less than his own salary, should it be pro-rated across his sixty hour work week.  With duties ranging from grant writing, graduate student education, and laboratory resource management to manuscript drafting, research, and departmental meeting attendance, Coleman continued to stress that his compensation package was "an accurate reflection" of his and others' respective contributions to academic research.