Automatically apply for jobs with Zippi

Upload your resume to get started.

Research assistant skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

6 min read

Quoted experts

William K. Kroen Ph.D.,

Dr. David LoConto Ph.D.

Hard skills or technical skills tailored to the specific job are crucial for research assistants. Some of the most important hard skills a research assistant can possess include experience working with lab equipment, and collecting and analyzing data. It's important that research assistants have prior experience with research projects, whether during their schooling or otherwise.

When it comes to soft skills, research assistants should have strong communication skills, both written and oral. Research assistants need to do a lot of writing, and they need to be good at following directions, so these skills are very important.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical research assistant skills. We ranked the top skills for research assistants based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 9.2% of research assistant resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a research assistant needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 research assistant skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how research assistants use patients:

Created computer graphic user interfaces that allowed Parkinson's patients with deteriorating vocal abilities to strengthen their voices for rehabilitative application.
Evaluated patients' study eligibility via medical history, obtained informed consent, enrolled patients, and achieved enrollment quotas.

2. Lab Equipment

Here's how research assistants use lab equipment:

Well versed in growing bacteria and mammalian cell cultures without contamination of specimen along with decontamination of lab equipment.
Approached by the University to integrate Biological and Agricultural Engineering lab equipment into centralized network architecture.

3. Data Collection

Data collection means to analyze and collect all the necessary information. It helps in carrying out research and in storing important and necessary information. The most important goal of data collection is to gather the information that is rich and accurate for statistical analysis.

Here's how research assistants use data collection:

Conducted data collection on exposed and unexposed populations through video recordings and behavioral surveys of subjects in a psychotropic state.
Developed and disseminated first HIV Epidemiology Annual Report and contributed to data collection for National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System project.

4. Laboratory Equipment

Here's how research assistants use laboratory equipment:

Operated and maintained various types of laboratory equipment in order to ensure optimal experiment procedure, helping to ensure accurate results.
Managed laboratory equipment inventories, arranged for the disposal of outdated laboratory equipment to keep the area in optimum working conditions.

5. Research Projects

Here's how research assistants use research projects:

Worked independently on a variety of research projects for clients including Vietnam veterans, university professors, and international companies.
Communicated with lab colleagues and research collaborators via e-mail and conference calls to discuss confidential information regarding research projects.

6. Data Analysis

Here's how research assistants use data analysis:

Conducted data analysis using Microsoft Office and SPSS to contribute to published research concerned with correlating gait kinematics with psychological emotions.
Conducted NSF affiliated research; assisted in developing research protocols, manuscript composition, primary data analysis, and participant recruitment.

Choose from 10+ customizable research assistant resume templates

Build a professional research assistant resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your research assistant resume.

7. R

R is a free software environment and a language used by programmers for statistical computing. The R programming language is famously used for data analysis by data scientists.

Here's how research assistants use r:

Conducted longitudinal data analysis, logistic regression data analysis and linear regression analysis for the biological experiments using R and SAS.
Completed empirical analysis in R to reveal the relationship between earnings management and seasoned equity offerings in Chinese companies.

8. Cell Culture

Here's how research assistants use cell culture:

Coupled with extensive experience teaching general and pathogenic microbiology, developed a broad background in mammalian and bacterial cell culture.
Maintained various inventories and oversaw regular maintenance of multiple laboratory environments, including cell culture and microbiology rooms.

9. Literature Reviews

Here's how research assistants use literature reviews:

Participated in recruiting process for physical activity and eating behavior study and helped to conduct literature reviews on current physical activity research
Conducted literature review, optimized experiments and prepared protocols, performed experiments, conducted statistical analyses, and prepared manuscripts.

10. SPSS

Here's how research assistants use spss:

Analyzed experimental data and worked with SPSS and Microsoft Excel to create graphical representations of experimental results.
Researched project specific information from medical records and incorporated information into city software program (SPSS).

11. Research Data

Here's how research assistants use research data:

Facilitated qualitative research data collection through post-hospital discharge telephone surveys of patients newly diagnosed with depression during admissions.
Consulted with surgeons and other coordinators to analyze patient records and input medical information into trauma research database.

12. C++

C++ is a general-purpose programming language that is used to create high-performing applications. It was invented as an extension to the C language. C++ lets the programmer have a high level of domination over memory and system resources. C++ is an object-oriented language that helps you implement real-time issues based on different data functions

Here's how research assistants use c++:

Developed and implemented a software package to derive hybrid numeric/symbolic algorithms to solve systems of differential equations using C++.
Investigated threshold based image segmentation methods and examined their anti-noise performance using C++ in Microsoft Visual Studio

13. IRB

An institutional review board (IRB), is a form of committee that applies research ethics by vetting research procedures to ensure they are ethical. In order to decide whether or not research can be undertaken, they often perform a kind of risk-benefit analysis. The IRB's function is to ensure that adequate safeguards are in place to protect the interests and health of humans who are participants of a research sample.

Here's how research assistants use irb:

Adhered strictly to laboratory protocol and procedure involving human subjects and contributed to the development/revision of IRB proposals.
Provided support for IRB and grant proposal submissions by conducting background literature review and reviewing abstracts

14. Research Study

Resaerch studies are conducted to learn something new about a subject or confirm an hypothesis one believe to be correct. They occur in both business and academia and normally involve some kind of survey of data, or observation of someone or something.

Here's how research assistants use research study:

Deliver & implement patient & family-centered palliative care curriculum as an intervention for a congestive heart failure research study.
Interviewed research participants to obtain necessary data for research study; and entered obtained data into various lab databases.

15. PowerPoint

Here's how research assistants use powerpoint:

Developed Homicide Review, a PowerPoint tool designed to deliver concise information to all participating parties/agencies on individual homicide cases.
Participated in lab meetings, prepared PowerPoint presentations on current research and updated the Primary Investigator with current results.

5 Research Assistant resume examples

Build a professional research assistant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 5+ resume templates to create your research assistant resume.

Create my resume

Build a professional resume in minutes using this template.

What skills help Research Assistants find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on research assistant resumes?

William K. Kroen Ph.D.

Professor of Biology, Wesley College

Internships and "real world" research experiences always stand out for employers and graduate schools; that's one of the major reasons that Delaware has a vibrant summer research network. Unfortunately, many of these experiences were closed last summer due to the pandemic. Who knows about June 2021.

What soft skills should all research assistants possess?

Dr. David LoConto Ph.D.

Professor of Sociology, Interim Department Head, New Mexico State University

These days in the job market, the abilities, as mentioned previously, to understand human behavior, contextualize events, and frame what is occurring. The problems that STEM students have now are designing products for humans but do not have that training. Our students are trained to understand humans at the state, institutional, organizational, group, and individual levels in sociology. This allows our students to find jobs if they desire to gain employment in STEM fields and data analytics in general.

What hard/technical skills are most important for research assistants?

Dr. David LoConto Ph.D.

Professor of Sociology, Interim Department Head, New Mexico State University

Increasingly, we see that the hard skills, due to technology changing so fast, become antiquated quickly. Employees must be retrained yearly or every other year. Therefore, the hard skills have lost some value. We provide our students the opportunity to learn not only statistical packages like SPSS and R, but they have the opportunity to do computational research, textual analysis, and data visualization. This provides our students the opportunity to learn skills they can apply to STEM fields, but our students have the bonus of understanding human behavior. Something that in the workforce is rarely taught.

What research assistant skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Dr. Neal Palmer Ph.D.

Chair, Associate Professor, Christian Brothers University

The answer to that question likely won't change from pre- to post-pandemic. Southern cities such as Nashville and Memphis were booming before the pandemic, and that will likely continue. These are good places to find jobs because the cost of living is relatively low, there are vibrant culture and entertainment, and there is not as much college-educated competition for jobs as in larger cities.

What type of skills will young research assistants need?

Bart Elmore

Associate Professor of Environmental History, Ohio State University

There really is no profession that does not lean on history. Politicians speak of what the "Founding Fathers" believed in trying and getting legislation passed. Business leaders have to look back at old annual reports and financial records to understand economic trends and predict problems that might arise in the future. Even doctors have to learn how to examine health data compiled decades ago to understand how best to treat their patients. I'm not sure people think of history this way, but the truth is, knowing how to digest historical data and translate it into useful information that can help guide decisions in the present is what historians do. I cannot think of a more powerful discipline when it comes to learning skills that will help young graduates live better lives once they leave the university.

What technical skills for a research assistant stand out to employers?

Sya Kedzior Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Towson University

The ability to understand technical or complex scientific processes and communicate that information with the public is one of the most attractive skills for an entry-level worker to possess. Many employers may not have staff skilled in the latest GIS technologies or social media trends. While the ability to use last year's software or network via Instagram might not seem particularly novel to recent graduates, these are skills less likely to be found in the workforce of even 10 years ago. Geographers are particularly well prepared for today's workforce because they've often had coursework across the "hard" and social sciences, along with training in technical skills (usually GIS or quantitative analysis) and written and oral communication skills. Another skill in high demand today is data collection and analysis. I often talk with potential employers who want to hire people who can develop and administer a public survey, and then analyze and write up the results. That requires understanding human behavior, public communication, and different forms of data analysis. But, these are skills that can be developed in perhaps only a few classes as part of a major or minor in Geography and other cognate fields.

Do you want to know more?

List of research assistant skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a research assistant resume and required skills for a research assistant to have include:

Patients
Lab Equipment
Data Collection
Laboratory Equipment
Research Projects
Data Analysis
R
Cell Culture
Literature Reviews
SPSS
Research Data
C++
IRB
Research Study
PowerPoint
Analyze Data
Statistical Analysis

Chemistry
PI
Literature Searches
Informed Consent
Python
Data Management
DNA
RT-PCR
Animal Handling
Synthesis
Clinical Trials
Research Findings
Electrophoresis
GEL Electrophoresis
SAS
Independent Research
Stata

Qualitative Data
Western Blotting
Elisa
Quantitative Data
Experimental Data
Journal Articles
Genotyping
Research Paper
Survey Data
NIH
Research Results
HPLC
MRI
NMR
Experimental Design
SEM

Updated January 8, 2025

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.

Zippia Careers
Life, Physical, and Social Science Industry
Research Assistant
Research Assistant Skills

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse life, physical, and social science jobs