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What does an application scientist do?

Updated January 8, 2025
6 min read

The duties of an application scientist vary in one's place of employment. Typically, they are in charge of providing services to customers in their laboratory equipment needs. Their responsibilities revolve around liaising with clients and fellow scientists, providing technical support through appointments and meetings, discussing and explaining conditions, and even test samples in different scientific applications. Furthermore, as an application scientist, it is essential to implement the laboratory's safety policies and regulations to ensure a safe and healthy work environment for everyone.

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Application scientist responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real application scientist resumes:

  • Manage sample inventory via in-house laboratory information management system (LIMS) and implement additional systems for sample and chemical organization.
  • Develop and standardize protocol for pathogen detection in food matrices using real time PCR.
  • Utilize free energy perturbation and molecular dynamics approaches to evaluate binding of proprietary camptothecins to DNA.
  • Structure-Base design and synthesis of biologically active compounds targeting SH2 domains for the treatment of osteoporosis and/or cancer.
  • Conduct technology comparison study to assess applicability of a wide range of chromatography products to support specific HTS assays.
  • Develop new product QC program significantly reducing costs and delays for experimental vaccine.
  • Collaborate with academic institutions, contract laboratories and manufacturers to establish applicable functionality tests for QC.
  • Manage sample inventory via in-house laboratory information management system (LIMS) and implement additional systems for sample and chemical organization.

Application scientist skills and personality traits

We calculated that 10% of Application Scientists are proficient in Diagnostics, Technical Support, and Sample Preparation.

We break down the percentage of Application Scientists that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Diagnostics, 10%

    Involved in kit development for Sepsis Immunological and Diagnostics screening and testing.

  • Technical Support, 9%

    Provided technical support/sales support in specific application roles with custom-built Olympus- based microscope-platform imaging units for Start-up spectroscopy company.

  • Sample Preparation, 7%

    Collaborated with existing customers and co-workers on the development of new sample preparation and analysis techniques.

  • Application Support, 6%

    Provide application support to customers or marketing team.

  • Customer Service, 5%

    Traveled to 5 different countries to accomplish customer services.

  • Next-Generation Sequencing, 5%

    Established a Next-generation sequencing platform and developed assays for high-throughput genetic analysis using Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM).

"diagnostics," "technical support," and "sample preparation" are among the most common skills that application scientists use at work. You can find even more application scientist responsibilities below, including:

Communication skills. One of the key soft skills for an application scientist to have is communication skills. You can see how this relates to what application scientists do because "medical scientists must be able to explain their research in nontechnical ways." Additionally, an application scientist resume shows how application scientists use communication skills: "facilitate communication between pi and collaborators. "

Observation skills. Another essential skill to perform application scientist duties is observation skills. Application scientists responsibilities require that "medical scientists conduct experiments that require monitoring samples and other health-related data." Application scientists also use observation skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "make detailed observations, document results and perform data analysis. "

Most common application scientist skills

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Compare different application scientists

Application scientist vs. Research fellow

A research fellow is an academic researcher who conducts research and analysis of comprehensive literature, data, and results and provides literature reviews. He/She supervises research assistants and recruits study participants to interview them for a particular study. To become a research fellow, a candidate should have a doctorate in a relevant discipline and publish peer-reviewed papers. Also, a research fellow can be an independent investigator or be supervised by a principal investigator.

The annual salary of research fellows is $36,116 lower than the average salary of application scientists.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between application scientists and research fellows are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like next-generation sequencing, data analysis, and experimental design.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an application scientist are more likely to require skills like "diagnostics," "technical support," "sample preparation," and "application support." On the other hand, a job as a research fellow requires skills like "patients," "immunology," "crispr," and "cell biology." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Research fellows tend to make the most money working in the non profits industry, where they earn an average salary of $57,261. In contrast, application scientists make the biggest average salary, $100,021, in the manufacturing industry.On average, research fellows reach similar levels of education than application scientists. Research fellows are 2.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 9.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Application scientist vs. Postdoctoral research associate

A postdoctoral research associate is responsible for assisting the educational institution's research department, writing research reports, analyzing research methods, and collecting information and related studies to support the research claims. Postdoctoral research associates must have excellent communication skills, both oral and written, reporting research updates to the research head, performing adjustments as needed, and gaining more expertise on the subject by brainstorming and discussing strategic procedures for the study. They may also conduct field investigation or coordinate with other institutions for additional reference, depending on the research's scope and limitation.

Postdoctoral research associate positions earn lower pay than application scientist roles. They earn a $37,154 lower salary than application scientists per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Application scientists and postdoctoral research associates both require similar skills like "next-generation sequencing," "data analysis," and "experimental design" to carry out their responsibilities.

Each career also uses different skills, according to real application scientist resumes. While application scientist responsibilities can utilize skills like "diagnostics," "technical support," "sample preparation," and "application support," postdoctoral research associates use skills like "python," "chemistry," "post-doctoral," and "cell biology."

On average, postdoctoral research associates earn a lower salary than application scientists. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, postdoctoral research associates earn the most pay in the professional industry with an average salary of $69,999. Whereas application scientists have higher pay in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $100,021.In general, postdoctoral research associates achieve similar levels of education than application scientists. They're 0.3% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 9.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Application scientist vs. Postdoctoral associate

A postdoctoral associate is responsible for researching to support scientific claims and theories by collecting evidence and information to answer scientific questions. Postdoctoral associates must have excellent communication skills, both oral and written, to interact with people and document investigation findings. They also utilize laboratory tools and equipment for scientific researches, conduct field investigations, and interview participants. A postdoctoral associate designs comprehensive research models to discuss results with the panel and the team efficiently and accurately.

On average, postdoctoral associates earn lower salaries than application scientists, with a $35,589 difference per year.application scientists and postdoctoral associates both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "sample preparation," "next-generation sequencing," and "data analysis," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an application scientist is likely to be skilled in "diagnostics," "technical support," "application support," and "post sales," while a typical postdoctoral associate is skilled in "patients," "tip," "biomedical," and "crispr."

Postdoctoral associates earn the highest salary when working in the education industry, where they receive an average salary of $53,445. Comparatively, application scientists have the highest earning potential in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $100,021.When it comes to education, postdoctoral associates tend to earn similar degree levels compared to application scientists. In fact, they're 2.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 24.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Application scientist vs. Research associate

A research associate is responsible for assisting the research team, organizing and interpreting findings, and verifying information before presenting the study to the board. Research associates duties also include gathering and comparing data from multiple sources, analyzing the current industry trends, creating draft outlines for reports, collecting individual contacts for interview purposes, and helping with the development of research procedures. A research associate must have excellent time-management skills and ability to multi-task, especially on meeting strict deadlines and conducting studies.

Research associates tend to earn a lower pay than application scientists by an average of $29,773 per year.While both application scientists and research associates complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like technical support, next-generation sequencing, and data analysis, the two careers vary in some skills.While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "diagnostics," "sample preparation," "application support," and "post sales" are skills that commonly show up on application scientist resumes. On the other hand, research associates use skills like patients, chemistry, lab equipment, and python on their resumes.The finance industry tends to pay the highest salaries for research associates, with average annual pay of $84,005. Comparatively, the highest application scientist annual salary comes from the manufacturing industry.The average resume of research associates showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to application scientists. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 3.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 11.4%.

Types of application scientist

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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