What degree do you need to be a pharmaceutical scientist?

You need a master's degree in pharmacology to be a pharmaceutical scientist. However, most choose to get a Ph.D. in pharmacology. Pharmaceutical scientists often hold bachelor's, master's, or Ph.D.'s in other fields, such as chemistry.

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

What is a pharmaceutical scientist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Betsy Smith

Pharmaceutical scientists are brilliant people working to make the world a healthier place. They help cure disease by researching new treatments or medications, testing medicine rigorously to make sure that it works like it's supposed to, and finally making the medicine so that it can get in the hands of the patients who need it.

Although their job titles sound similar, pharmaceutical scientists are not pharmacists. Pharmacists are the people who prescribe medication to people, advise them on potential side effects, and maybe even do last minute mixing and dosage. Pharmaceutical scientists work behind the scenes to actually make the medicine and they rarely interact with patients.

Most pharmaceutical scientists spend years studying pharmacy or chemistry, often getting a master's or even a doctorate degree. They also have years of experience working in labs before they can lead experiments themselves. Although the path to becoming a pharmaceutical scientist is long and hard, for many, the joy of doing work that saves lives is worth the effort. Pharmaceutical scientists earn an average of $71,661 a year.

What general advice would you give to a pharmaceutical 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.

ScorePharmaceutical ScientistUS Average

Salary

6.2

Avg. Salary $79,535

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.3

Growth rate 17%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.15%

Asian 26.27%

Black or African American 6.53%

Hispanic or Latino 9.80%

Unknown 4.15%

White 53.10%

Gender

female 37.04%

male 62.96%

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 pharmaceutical scientist

Explore pharmaceutical scientist education requirements

Most common pharmaceutical scientist degrees

Bachelor's

62.5 %

Master's

23.1 %

Doctorate

10.6 %

Start to develop specific pharmaceutical scientist skills

Skills	Percentages
Dosage Forms	13.22%
Pharmaceutical Sciences	6.50%
Formulation Development	6.18%
HPLC	6.04%
DSC	5.42%

Complete relevant pharmaceutical scientist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New pharmaceutical 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 pharmaceutical scientist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real pharmaceutical scientist resumes.

Research pharmaceutical scientist duties and responsibilities

Manage collaborations with external CROs.
Perform testing of raw materials, active pharmaceutical ingredients and drug products for release and stability in compliance with GMP.
Validate new methods to quantify chemical composition to support the stability programs associate with new drug products submit to the FDA.
Review CMC and regulatory filings.

Get pharmaceutical scientist experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a pharmaceutical scientist. The most common roles before becoming a pharmaceutical scientist include scientist, research assistant team lead and research scientist.

Prepare your pharmaceutical scientist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your pharmaceutical 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 pharmaceutical scientist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable pharmaceutical scientist resume templates

Build a professional pharmaceutical scientist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your pharmaceutical scientist resume.