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Scientific director education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
There are several educational requirements to become a scientific director. Scientific directors usually study biology, chemistry, or biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology. 44% of scientific directors hold a bachelor's degree, and 38% hold an doctoral degree. We analyzed 330 real scientific director resumes to see exactly what scientific director education sections show.
The most common colleges for scientific directors are the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of California, Santa Barbara.
There are also many online scientific director courses to help get the education required to be a scientific director.
There are certain scientific director certifications that you should consider. These scientific director certifications include Internal Medicine and Clinical Research Assistant.
What education do you need to become a scientific director?
What degree do you need to be a scientific director?
- Bachelor's, 44%
- Doctorate, 38%
- Master's, 15%
- Associate, 2%
- Other Degrees, 1%
What should I major in to become a scientific director?
Most common colleges for scientific directors
| Scientific director common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| University of California, Santa Barbara | 7.69% |
| New York University | 6.15% |
| Ohio State University | 6.15% |
| Pennsylvania State University | 6.15% |
| Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey | 6.15% |
Best majors for scientific directors
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Biology | 21.8% |
| 2 | Chemistry | 12.2% |
| 3 | Biochemistry, Biophysics, Molecular Biology | 11.8% |
| 4 | Pharmacy | 10.9% |
| 5 | Microbiology | 9.6% |
Best colleges for scientific directors
The best colleges for scientific directors are Harvard University, Duke University, and Columbia University in the City of New York.
A scientific director with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for scientific directors. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become scientific directors.
1. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$55,695
Enrollment
6,596
2. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$56,225
Enrollment
19,548
3. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
In-state tuition
$50,420
Enrollment
7,582
4. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
In-state tuition
$15,262
Enrollment
30,079
5. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$59,430
Enrollment
8,216
6. University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$13,226
Enrollment
31,568
7. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$8,987
Enrollment
18,946
8. Yale University
New Haven, CT • Private
In-state tuition
$53,430
Enrollment
5,963
9. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
In-state tuition
$53,740
Enrollment
5,567
10. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
In-state tuition
$49,816
Enrollment
6,840
20 best online courses for scientific directors
Advertising disclosure
1. AI for Scientific Research
In the AI for Scientific Research specialization, we'll learn how to use AI in scientific situations to discover trends and patterns within datasets. Course 1 teaches a little bit about the Python language as it relates to data science. We'll share some existing libraries to help analyze your datasets. By the end of the course, you'll apply a classification model to predict the presence or absence of heart disease from a patient's health data. Course 2 covers the complete machine learning...
2. Clinical Trials Analysis, Monitoring, and Presentation
In this course, you’ll learn more advanced operational skills that you and your team need to run a successful clinical trial. You’ll learn about the computation of sample size and how to develop a sample size calculation that’s suitable for your trial design and outcome measures. You’ll also learn to use statistical methods to monitor your trial for safety, integrity, and efficacy. Next, you’ll learn how to report the results from your clinical trials through both journal articles and data...
3. The Simplest Guide to Clinical Trials Data Analysis with SAS
Step into the world of Pharmaceutical industry Clinical Trials Clinical Research Biostatistics Clinical SAS SAS...
4. Basic of Clinical Data Management
Clinical Data Management...
5. Clinical Trials Operations
This specialization is designed for individuals and teams that will be running or interacting with clinical trials. In four courses, learners will develop insights and build the skills they need to design, manage, and monitor clinical trials as well as analyze, document, and communicate the results. Learners will also learn best practices regarding ethics, safety, participant recruitment, regulatory compliance, and reporting standards. The core principles and skills of the specialization will...
6. Understanding Clinical Research: Behind the Statistics
If you’ve ever skipped over the results section of a medical paper because terms like “confidence interval” or “p-value” go over your head, then you’re in the right place. You may be a clinical practitioner reading research articles to keep up-to-date with developments in your field or a medical student wondering how to approach your own research. Greater confidence in understanding statistical analysis and the results can benefit both working professionals and those undertaking research...
7. Practical Regulatory Affairs 2020 - US FDA Medical Devices
A practical course discussing the US FDA Medical Device regulations for real-world situations...
8. Clinical Research for beginners
The Art of Publishing - Master Pub Med, Study design, Biostatistics, Journal choice, Manuscript writing & Referencing...
9. Clinical Data Science
Are you interested in how to use data generated by doctors, nurses, and the healthcare system to improve the care of future patients? If so, you may be a future clinical data scientist!\n\nThis specialization provides learners with hands on experience in use of electronic health records and informatics tools to perform clinical data science. This series of six courses is designed to augment learner’s existing skills in statistics and programming to provide examples of specific challenges,...
10. Clinical Trials Data Management and Quality Assurance
In this course, you’ll learn to collect and care for the data gathered during your trial and how to prevent mistakes and errors through quality assurance practices. Clinical trials generate an enormous amount of data, so you and your team must plan carefully by choosing the right collection instruments, systems, and measures to protect the integrity of your trial data. You’ll learn how to assemble, clean, and de-identify your datasets. Finally, you’ll learn to find and correct deficiencies...
11. The Beginners Course for Clinical Research
The Essentials of Clinical Trials - Clinical Research for Beginners...
12. Good Clinical Practice for Clinical Research Professionals
The Complete, Certified ICH GCP (R2 & R3) Course for Investigators, Study Coordinators, Sponsors, Monitors and Study staff...
13. Julia Scientific Programming
This course introduces you to Julia as a first programming language. Julia is a high-level, high-performance dynamic programming language developed specifically for scientific computing. This language will be particularly useful for applications in physics, chemistry, astronomy, engineering, data science, bioinformatics, and many more. You can start programming with Julia within Coursera and it can also be used from the command line, program files, or a Jupyter notebook. Julia is designed to...
14. Good Clinical Practice ICH GCP for Clinical Research
Certification on ICH GCP E6 R2 Good Clinical Practice for Clinical Research The Only Complete Course You Can Find Online...
15. Medical Device Regulation 2017/745 EU regulatory affairs.
Understand regulations for medical devices in simple terms to gain market approval of a medical device in the EU...
16. Medical Writing for Healthcare Professionals
Launch your scientific and medical writing career today. Learn from an experienced medical writer!...
17. Master Python programming by solving scientific projects
Learn scientific coding in Python from a warm-blooded scientist. Each video includes hands-on solved practice problems!...
18. Practical Regulatory Affairs 2020 - European Medical Devices
A practical course discussing the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR) in real-world situations...
19. EU Medical Device Regulatory Affairs explained Simply
How to get approval to sell Medical Devices within the European Union. Understand regulatory affairs & ISO 13485 2016...
20. Understanding Medications and Therapeutics
Helping you build the best foundation to truly understand medications and develop clinical reasoning skills...
Top 10 most affordable universities for scientific directors
The most affordable schools for scientific directors are University of Florida, hunter college of the city university of new york, and california state university - long beach.
If the best universities for scientific directors are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for scientific directors.
1. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,381
Cost of attendance
21,034
2. Hunter College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,182
Cost of attendance
13,998
3. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Cost of attendance
18,306
4. California State University - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,749
Cost of attendance
14,823
5. Brigham Young University
Provo, UT • Private
In-state tuition
$5,620
Cost of attendance
18,136
6. University of South Florida
Tampa, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,410
Cost of attendance
20,456
7. California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,886
Cost of attendance
17,645
8. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$5,656
Cost of attendance
21,623
9. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York
Brooklyn, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,240
Cost of attendance
13,991
10. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$8,987
Cost of attendance
25,527
Top 10 hardest universities to get into for scientific directors
The hardest universities for scientific directors to get into are Harvard University, Duke University, and Columbia University in the City of New York.
Some great schools for scientific directors are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for scientific directors based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.
1. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
Admissions rate
5%
SAT average
1,520
2. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
Admissions rate
9%
SAT average
1,516
3. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
6%
SAT average
1,512
4. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
Admissions rate
11%
SAT average
1,513
5. Yale University
New Haven, CT • Private
Admissions rate
6%
SAT average
1,517
6. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,492
7. University of Chicago
Chicago, IL • Private
Admissions rate
7%
SAT average
1,520
8. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
Admissions rate
4%
SAT average
1,497
9. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
Admissions rate
10%
SAT average
1,514
10. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,508
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for scientific directors
The easiest schools for scientific directors to get into are Mount Saint Mary's University, d'youville college, and barry university.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a scientific director without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for scientific directors.
1. Mount Saint Mary's University
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
84%
SAT average
1,031
2. D'Youville College
Buffalo, NY • Private
Admissions rate
100%
SAT average
1,072
3. Barry University
Miami, FL • Private
Admissions rate
91%
SAT average
1,006
4. Notre Dame de Namur University
Belmont, CA • Private
Admissions rate
82%
SAT average
983
5. University of the Incarnate Word
San Antonio, TX • Private
Admissions rate
88%
SAT average
1,044
6. Curry College
Milton, MA • Private
Admissions rate
93%
SAT average
1,026
7. The University of Texas at El Paso
El Paso, TX • Private
Admissions rate
100%
SAT average
1,035
8. San Francisco State University
San Francisco, CA • Private
Admissions rate
72%
SAT average
1,054
9. Marymount University
Arlington, VA • Private
Admissions rate
91%
SAT average
1,065
10. Life University
Marietta, GA • Private
Admissions rate
94%
SAT average
979
Average scientific director salary by education level
| Scientific director education level | Scientific director salary |
|---|---|
| Master's Degree | $111,569 |
| Bachelor's Degree | $108,766 |
| Doctorate Degree | $118,842 |
Scientific director education FAQs
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Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025