How To Become A Study Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is a study director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A study director works at a laboratory, university, or other research facility and leads scientific studies. They help design a study, implement it successfully, and oversee all of the administrative work in order to make sure that it is a success. Thanks to their work, toxins are discovered in the environment, new medicines are developed, and other important research breakthroughs are conducted.

Study directors need to be experts in their scientific field in order to design protocols and study plans that are likely to be successful. In addition to their scientific knowledge, study directors also need to be good at working with people since they supervise others working in the lab, including students. Study directors are also in charge of the less glamorous, administrative aspects of running a scientific study, such as delegating tasks and documenting the study for review.

Study directors need to be experts at the field they lead studies in, whether it is chemistry or environmental biology. Most have advanced degrees in their field such as a master's degree or a doctorate. Study directors also need many years of practical experience working in research labs before leading studies themselves. They earn an average salary of $67,514 a year.

ScoreStudy DirectorUS Average

Salary

6.4

Avg. Salary $82,066

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.6

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.51%

Asian 12.04%

Black or African American 2.52%

Hispanic or Latino 14.59%

Unknown 7.51%

White 62.83%

Gender

female 45.15%

male 54.85%

Age - 43.5

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 - 43.5

Stress level

5.6

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.5

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.3

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a study director

Explore study director education requirements

Most common study director degrees

Bachelor's

60.8 %

Master's

21.0 %

Doctorate

11.1 %

Start to develop specific study director skills

Skills	Percentages
Toxicology	10.30%
Data Collection	6.73%
Study Design	6.64%
Project Management	6.25%
Data Analysis	5.65%

Complete relevant study director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New study directors 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 study director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real study director resumes.

Research study director duties and responsibilities

Design, conducts and manages studies for EPA and oce compliance, such as water solubility and partition coefficient studies.
Manage all outsource toxicology studies at contract research laboratories.
Establish and maintain strong community partnerships to achieve HIV prevention objectives.
Evaluate study design and toxicology data as needed.

Get study director experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a study director. The most common roles before becoming a study director include teacher, research assistant team lead and research associate.

Prepare your study director resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable study director resume templates

Build a professional study director 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 study director resume.