Studying What You Love as a Research Scientist

Today new technology and discoveries have opened up exciting job opportunities for research scientists. In fact, desiring to become a research scientist is the stuff of dreams for today's younger generation. Concerns over the environmental impact of pesticide use and global warming are expected to drive the need for research scientists considerably over the next few decades. Research scientists conduct research, develop theories, and devise methods to apply scientific principles, theories, and research in their specific projects. All levels related to this field in general, require a PhD or at least a master's degree in the relevant discipline, and each level of advancement demands increasing professional achievement.

Research scientists generally work with their staff scientists, senior staff scientists, or faculty members in attaining the goals of the specific research projects allocated or assigned to them. Research scientists, as the term suggests, are known to explore nature in order to discover general principles. They also perform engineering tasks in designing experimental equipment and building prototypes. Research scientists can be motivated in several ways. Many have a desire to understand why the world is the way we see it and how it came to be. They exhibit a strong curiosity about reality. Other motivations are prestige or simply the desire to apply scientific knowledge for the benefit of people's health, the nations, the world, nature, or industries. Only a few scientists count generating personal wealth as an important driving force behind their science.

''Research scientist'' is a very broad concept and there are different types of career options available as research scientists. Some of these include archaeologists, astronomers, astrophysicists, biologists, botanists, entomologists, evolutionary biologists, geneticists, microbiologists, neuroscientists, palaeontologists, pharmacologists, zoologists, chemists, computer scientists, geologists, mineralogists, seismologists, meteorologists, oceanographers, educational psychologists, library scientists, management scientists, mathematicians, medical scientists, military scientists, philosophers, physicists, psychologists, social scientists, anthropologists, demographers, economists, geographers, political economists, political scientists, sociologists, technological, and agricultural scientists.



Normally research scientists of any field need to be aware of other research being carried out in their field of study or fields related to theirs. Activities that enable them to stay in touch successfully with developments and advances in their field include:

• Carrying out searches for information using the Internet and information databases.
• Reading relevant scientific literature.
• Attending scientific meetings and conferences in order to hear presentations from other researchers and participate in informal discussions with scientists from other parts of the world.

Working hours normally do not apply in this sector. However, in reality, longer hours than forty-hour weeks are often worked, although there is usually some flexibility in start and finish times, especially in academic settings. Due to the nature of experimental work, some evening and weekend work may be required. Long hours are often necessary when, for example, grant application deadlines are looming or a particularly important experiment is underway. It is unusual for overtime to be paid in academic posts, but is more the norm in industry jobs.

With career progression, the work becomes more office based with a focus on writing grant applications, collaborating with other scientists, supervising staff, planning experiments, writing papers for publication, and reviewing papers.

Travel may not or may occasionally be required as research scientists often collaborate with other institutions. Some national and international travel is needed for attendance at conferences to present the results of research, often with a stay of a few days. Travel usually becomes more frequent with job progression.

Advances in biotechnology have also created new venues for the research scientist to explore in this area; this includes the areas of biology, forensics agriculture, environmental preservation, and medicine. Nearly half of all biological research scientists are employed by the government sector, while the other half work in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in research and testing facilities. Nearly half of all biological research scientists are employed by the government sector, while the other half work in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in research and testing facilities. The eligibility criteria in this field include a PhD or at least a master's degree in the area of specialization. A master's is the minimum requirement to become involved in research and development in most industries. However, if the goal is to become engaged in independent research, then obtaining a doctorate degree is a must.

Medical research is another very popular career option among today's generation. In general, the eligibility criterion for a medical research scientist is a PhD in their area of specialization. Medical research scientists are required to plan and conduct experiments to increase the body of scientific knowledge on topics related to medicine. They may also aim to develop new, or improve existing, drugs or other medically-related products.

Normally medical research takes place in higher-education institutions, research institutes, hospitals, and industries. The roles and responsibilities vary according to the setting, but much of the work is laboratory based. Basically medical research scientists' responsibilities include planning and conducting experiments and analysing or interpreting the results, keeping accurate records of work undertaken, discussing research progress with other departments, discussing research progress with other departments, and writing and submitting applications and progress reports to funding bodies that support medical research.

Medical research scientists are also concerned with disseminating the results of their work to others, sharing the results of research with colleagues through presentations or discussions at team meetings, preparing presentations and reports and delivering these at national and international scientific conferences, writing original papers for publication in peer-reviewed medical or scientific journals, etc.