I made the switch from Researcher to RSDE and I&#x27;m not sure what you&#x27;re talking about.<p>There are plenty of Principal RSDEs and some become Managers of technical leaders of teams, which sometimes even include researchers.<p>But of course, the track is not as clear and common as for plain Researcher or SDE (in a product team).<p>PS: As far as I know, the patent bonus are there for all (though I can&#x27;t comment on values).