Becoming a Research Scientist in Three Steps

Through the conducting of experiments, the making of observations and the writing out of papers, your role as a research scientist is to carry out investigations in many different areas, from medical research to meteorology, to pharmacology. So, if you’ve always been the type of person that’s loved collecting data and information to then relay it to others in order to better their lives, then this career path could be the one for you.

Find out what three steps need to be taken to become a research scientist by reading on.

Choosing a specific field of study

The first step that you take on your career path should be choosing what specific field of study you want to spend your time researching. This field should be the one that interests you the most, as you're never going to produce good work and ultimately climb up the research scientist career ladder if you aren’t at all bothered about what it is you are doing day in, day out.

Your decision can even be derived from what interests you in everyday life. For example, if you have a keen interest in food, then why not take to researching nutrition and other organic options in your career?

Getting your education

Once you know what direction you want to take your career in, it’s time to get the education that will act as your foundation going forward. First, you must obtain a bachelor’s degree in your relevant field — again, if food were what you wanted to devote your time to researching, then taking a course that studied culinary and the science behind it would have to be your port of call.

Your journey in education is not over after you’ve earned that degree, however. Studying and earning a Data Science degree can help you beat your competition, as 92% of data scientists are believed to hold an advanced degree of some sorts, meaning there is a lot of competition. A Master’s, however, will fine-tune your analytical mind and will earn you the qualification needed to break into the field of research science.

Checking licensure requirements

Some research scientist roles require specific licensing, and some do not. Either way, it’s important that you check whether the role you are going for does or does not require licensure requirements, because obtaining one can take a while and you don’t want to put yourself behind in the race for jobs as soon as you enter it.

If you are seeking to become a medical research scientist, then you should know that, as you will be interacting with patients personally, you will need to be licensed as a physician.

Although the information above may have only been given in the form of three steps, there is a whole lot more that needs to go into becoming a research scientist. The hours and effort that needs to be put in, for starters, makes this just about as hard a career path to get on and then take as there is. If it’s your calling, though, nothing will stop you.