Research scientist (life sciences) : Job description

Researchers within life sciences are primarily involved in planning, conducting and analysing experiments, either with a definite end use (to develop new products, processes or commercial applications) or to broaden scientific understanding in general. Although research is often carried out on an individual basis, researchers usually work as part of a larger team and part of their job is to disseminate information to professional colleagues. This is sometimes done at international conferences or through the publication of research papers.

The term 'life sciences' covers a whole range of scientific disciplines. This includes neurosciences, plant sciences, physiology, pharmacology, cancer studies, microbiology, genomics, bioinformatics, biotechnology and stem cell research. They are close to the medical sciences but also cross over into other areas, such as biochemistry.

Research scientists work in commercial or government laboratories, hospitals and higher education institutions.

Typical work activities

The exact nature of the work depends on the level of seniority of a research post, the specific area of life sciences studied and also whether the context is industrial or academic. However, most life science researchers are involved in the following:

• devising and conducting experiments;
• processing and analysing results and data;
• communicating results to the scientific community via published papers;
• collaborating with industry/academia to apply the results of research and develop new techniques, products or practices;
• presenting ongoing work and findings to colleagues at academic conferences, and producing academic posters which summarise the nature of their research, their methodology and their findings;
• carrying out field work to inform their research;
• teaching, demonstrating or supervising students (in academia) and training and supervising other members of staff;
• devising or helping to draw up new research proposals and applying for funding and grants;
• working in multidisciplinary teams (in academia, across different faculties or schools, and in industry, across different functions of the business).

Researchers in life sciences depend on peer reviews of their written publications and presentations in order to validate their theories and inform their research. They also need to keep abreast of the work of other scientists both within the life sciences arena and in the wider scientific community. Attendance at academic conferences across the world is considered part of the job, rather than an additional activity. Reading journals is another important aspect of their work.