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What does a science professor do?

Updated January 8, 2025
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Science professor responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real science professor resumes:

  • Lead outreach to community and statewide stakeholders in the PPCC entrepreneurship program.
  • Instruct and mentore pathophysiology, anatomy/physiology, and medical ethics students
  • Develop contextually sensitive evidence aggregation methods from patient records that consider whole patients over time, rather than just linguistic correctness.
  • Create many Mathematica movies to help students understand important concepts in calculus.

Science professor skills and personality traits

We calculated that 21% of Science Professors are proficient in Student Learning, Professional Development, and Science Courses. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Speaking skills, and Writing skills.

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

  • Student Learning, 21%

    Conduct undergraduate lectures to facilitate student learning, challenge students, encourage participation and attendance, and communicate ideas effectively.

  • Professional Development, 18%

    Assumed all responsibilities of full-time university faculty, including professional development, assessments of student competencies and supervision of staff.

  • Science Courses, 8%

    Provided instruction and mentoring in various science courses including Environment and Ecology, Anatomy, and Chemistry.

  • Anatomy, 7%

    Full time professor of Anatomy and Physiology, Microbiology and Nutrition.

  • Physiology, 6%

    Research, schedule and develop course Physiology, biology and medical terminology professor All proper duty and responsibilities for a professor position

  • Mathematics, 5%

    Supervised Freshmen Orientation Program Participated on Acceptance Committee for Incoming Freshmen Taught various Mathematics and Science Courses Led discussions at Faculty Meetings

Most science professors use their skills in "student learning," "professional development," and "science courses" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential science professor responsibilities here:

Interpersonal skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a science professor to have is interpersonal skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "postsecondary teachers need to work well with others for tasks such as instructing students and serving on committees." Science professors often use interpersonal skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "teach classes in business and professional communications, interpersonal communications public speaking and the fundamentals of speech communications. "

Speaking skills. Many science professor duties rely on speaking skills. "postsecondary teachers need good communication skills to present lectures and provide feedback to students.," so a science professor will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways science professor responsibilities rely on speaking skills: "designed course content, lead group discussions and presented didactic lectures. "

Writing skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of science professors is writing skills. This skill is critical to many everyday science professor duties, as "postsecondary teachers need strong writing ability to publish original research and analysis." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "mentored medical residents in psychiatry, preventive medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology in research and grant writing. "

All science professor skills

The three companies that hire the most science professors are:

Compare different science professors

Science professor vs. Human anatomy teacher

A Biology Instructor is a teacher responsible for educating students on biology either in middle school, high school, or at a college level. They are responsible for creating a learning curriculum that covers scientific investigations and lab experiments. They must also design student assessment programs, liaise with parents on student growth, and create school policies and regulations. Other duties include coordinating field trips, attending staff meetings, and establishing student rapport.

If we compare the average science professor annual salary with that of a human anatomy teacher, we find that human anatomy teachers typically earn a $32,659 lower salary than science professors make annually.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between science professors and human anatomy teachers are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like anatomy, course materials, and natural sciences.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between science professors and human anatomy teacher. For instance, science professor responsibilities require skills such as "student learning," "professional development," "biomedical," and "science courses." Whereas a human anatomy teacher is skilled in "class size," "human body," "analytical chemistry," and "ot." This is part of what separates the two careers.

The education levels that human anatomy teachers earn slightly differ from science professors. In particular, human anatomy teachers are 13.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a science professor. Additionally, they're 8.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Science professor vs. Biology instructor

A biology faculty member specializes in teaching biological science to students. Their responsibilities revolve around delivering effective classroom discussions, preparing lesson and coursework plans, creating learning materials such as presentations and handouts, conducting tests and examinations, organizing laboratory activities and practices, and assisting students in areas they find difficult. They may also participate in faculty committee works and research programs. Moreover, a biology faculty member monitors the students' progress while maintaining a safe and healthy learning environment for everyone.

A career as a biology instructor brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a science professor. In fact, biology instructors salary is $26,131 lower than the salary of science professors per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Science professors and biology instructors both require similar skills like "student learning," "professional development," and "science courses" to carry out their responsibilities.

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, science professor responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "biomedical," "physiology," "social science," and "academic curriculum." Meanwhile, a biology instructor has duties that require skills in areas such as "lab experiments," "biology courses," "general biology," and "curriculum development." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

On average, biology instructors earn a lower salary than science professors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, biology instructors earn the most pay in the education industry with an average salary of $52,962. Whereas science professors have higher pay in the education industry, with an average salary of $79,806.biology instructors earn similar levels of education than science professors in general. They're 1.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 8.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Science professor vs. Biology faculty member

An average biology faculty member eans a lower salary compared to the average salary of science professors. The difference in salaries amounts to biology faculty members earning a $24,664 lower average salary than science professors.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a science professor is likely to be skilled in "student learning," "professional development," "biomedical," and "science courses," while a typical biology faculty member is skilled in "general biology," "chemistry," "colleges," and "molecular biology."

Most biology faculty members achieve a lower degree level compared to science professors. For example, they're 9.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 6.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Science professor vs. Anatomy and physiology instructor

Anatomy and physiology instructors tend to earn a lower pay than science professors by an average of $29,579 per year.While their salaries may vary, science professors and anatomy and physiology instructors both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "student learning," "biomedical," and "mathematics. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "professional development," "science courses," "anatomy," and "physiology" are skills that commonly show up on science professor resumes. On the other hand, anatomy and physiology instructors use skills like laboratory exercises, human anatomy, classroom management, and curriculum development on their resumes.The health care industry tends to pay the highest salaries for anatomy and physiology instructors, with average annual pay of $66,411. Comparatively, the highest science professor annual salary comes from the education industry.The average resume of anatomy and physiology instructors showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to science professors. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 8.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.5%.

Types of science professor

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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