How To Become A Contract Research Scientist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a contract research scientist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Betsy Smith

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a contract research scientist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $43.62 an hour? That's $90,721 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 17% and produce 20,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a contract research scientist?

Dr. Betsy Smith

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Elmira College

I would advise students just graduating to be flexible and open-minded in their job search. Chemistry is a challenging major, and students who succeed in it have learned how to learn, so they shouldn't assume that pure chemistry is the only thing they can do. One growing field is biomedical research, and chemistry majors are often qualified for jobs in that area. If you have other strengths, like writing, there are often jobs that can combine them as a technical writer or work for a science journal. There are jobs out there that might be perfect for you that you haven't heard of until you see an ad for it, so be open to different possibilities.

ScoreContract Research ScientistUS Average

Salary

7.1

Avg. Salary $90,721

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.3

Growth rate 17%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.15%

Asian 26.53%

Black or African American 6.21%

Hispanic or Latino 9.40%

Unknown 4.05%

White 53.66%

Gender

female 52.78%

male 47.22%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

6.3

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a contract research scientist

Explore contract research scientist education requirements

Most common contract research scientist degrees

Bachelor's

75.7 %

Doctorate

14.3 %

Master's

7.1 %

Start to develop specific contract research scientist skills

Skills	Percentages
Analytical Techniques	24.14%
R	21.90%
HPLC	14.67%
Analytical Support	13.51%
Harvest	13.18%

Complete relevant contract research scientist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New contract research scientists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a contract research scientist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real contract research scientist resumes.

Research contract research scientist duties and responsibilities

Manage the development of innovative visualization and concept mapping of contest environment analysis challenges and analyst skill sets.
Test 50 breast expanders and submit results for FDA 5-10k approval.
Perform solution and standard prep, Agilent HPLC impurities identification, dissolution assay using VanKel (USP App.
Develop, validate and implement robust methods for pharmacokinetic, immunogenicity (ADA) and immunodepletion ELISAs, and cell based-bioassays.

Prepare your contract research scientist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your contract research scientist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a contract research scientist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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