In regards to the third bullet point, there might be a nontrivial boost to the senior researchers’ productivity and well-being.
Doing grunt-work can be disproportionally (to its time) tiring and demotivating, and most people have some type of work that they dislike or just not good at which could perhaps be delegated. Additionally, having a (strong and motivated) RA might just be more fun and help with making personal research projects more social and meaningful.
Regarding the salary, I’ve quickly checked GiveWell’s salaries at Glassdoor
So from that I’d guess that an RA could cost about 60% as much as a senior researcher. (I’m sure that there is better and more relevant information out there)
In regards to the third bullet point, there might be a nontrivial boost to the senior researchers’ productivity and well-being.
Doing grunt-work can be disproportionally (to its time) tiring and demotivating, and most people have some type of work that they dislike or just not good at which could perhaps be delegated. Additionally, having a (strong and motivated) RA might just be more fun and help with making personal research projects more social and meaningful.
Regarding the salary, I’ve quickly checked GiveWell’s salaries at Glassdoor
So from that I’d guess that an RA could cost about 60% as much as a senior researcher. (I’m sure that there is better and more relevant information out there)