Research associate
Appearance
Research Associate are scholars with an MD or PhD may also be hired as research associates. Research Associate is an employee of the University and may be eligible to receive University benefits. Note that the Research Associate position does not explicitly require mentoring and is a regular staff position with appointment letters processed by Human Resources. In contrast to a research assistant, a research associate often has a graduate degree, such as a master's (e.g. Master of Science) or doctoral degree (e.g. Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Medicine, or [[Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine], Doctor of Chiropractic ]). In some cases it can be synonymous with postdoctoral research.
References
http://physiology.case.edu/people/postdoctoral_personnel/