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A ‘research, development, scientific services’ career<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
There are many different roles in the industry. Here we focus on roles in the life science industry carrying out or overseeing research, including early product development (but excluding general software development, clinical trials management and roles related to technical support; these are covered in separate info sheets). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For life scientists, industry research employers are generally in the areas of drug development, advanced therapeutics, diagnostics, research instrumentation and products, nutrition, scientific services, medical devices, crop science and other life-science or health-care related products. In these areas, there are numerous well-known and long-established multinational companies, but also many small and medium-size enterprises, including start-ups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Within industry research, the work might be very applied and focussed on a specific product idea or prototype; or the work may be focused on \u2018early discovery\u2019 projects, which investigate potential avenues for future products (for example, possible targets for therapeutics). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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- Roles and responsibilities<\/a><\/li>
- Career entry and progression<\/a><\/li>
- Knowledge and skills<\/a><\/li><\/ul>
\nRoles and responsibilities<\/h2>\n
The job titles and the tasks associated within industry research are quite diverse. In particular, there can be large differences depending on if the company is a start-up or more established company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Possible tasks may include a subset of the following activities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- planning relevant experiments and\/or coding\/analysis for projects you are involved in.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- depending on the role\/hierarchy of the organization you work in, there may be staff who you can delegate (some or all) routine experiments and analysis to, but many roles do still involve some time at the bench.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- meeting with\/communicating with colleagues and collaborators to discuss results, priorities, next steps etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- remaining up to date with domain\/technology developments (e.g. reading the literature, attending conferences etc).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- writing scientific publications to disseminate the work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
at the lab head\/more senior levels:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- oversee the research strategy and direction of the team\u2019s projects.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- mentor and support career development of team members.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- report progress to management and other stakeholders, justify projects and budgets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- propose new projects and directions that align with company priorities, presenting these to decision-makers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- establish and manage external collaborations (including with academic labs)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- manage the lab budget and provide an organizational framework \u2013 or delegate\/oversee this; ensure that the group follows scientific good practice (ethics, data management, appropriate experiment design and analysis including relevant standard operating procedures [SOPs]).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- in some start-ups: apply to European project funding.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Major differences to academic research include more team-based work, a faster turn-over of projects and a focus on a viable end-product rather than on grants and publications. Procedures are also often more standardized, which is particularly important when the resulting data will be included in an application for regulatory approval, or the analysis or production pipeline will be part of the end-product.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n
Career entry and progression<\/h2>\n
The exact job titles vary a lot between companies. In start-ups, the job titles may appear more senior to those with similar responsibilities in a larger company. Therefore, when applying to positions do research the company in advance and read the job advertisement carefully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A rough guide to entry-point job titles for pharma and biotech is provided below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Associate scientist\n
- \n
- focus: carrying out bench-based lab work and\/or data-analysis<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- typical entry requirement: master\u2019s degree<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Postdoc\n
- \n
- temporary scientist role focussed on hands-on bench\/computational work; generally works on a main project that can be published.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- typical entry requirement: PhD degree; also possible entry point for scientists with some academic postdoc experience<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Scientist or investigator (including specific titles like \u2018computational biologist\u2019)\n
- \n
- scientist role requiring hands-on bench\/computational work, plans own work independently<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- typical entry requirement: PhD degree; also possible entry point for scientists with some academic postdoc experience<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Senior scientist\n
- \n
- focus on bench\/computational work; but involves more independence\/ideation. Often involves overseeing the work of technicians or junior staff (e.g. the experimental design and interpretation of results) but typically not as their direct manager.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Typical entry requirement: PhD and often 2+years of relevant additional experience. More rarely entry point directly after the PhD.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Principal scientist or lab head\n
- \n
- minimal bench\/computational work and a workload including more supervision, operational management and research strategy tasks; usually leading a small team.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- typical entry requirement: PhD and multiple years\u2019 relevant experience, evidence of mentoring\/supervision often required.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- Associate scientist\n
- Career entry and progression<\/a><\/li>