Life sciences can be defined as the area of scientific study covering animals, plants as well as human beings, which then branches into dozens of specialist fields including biochemistry, ecology, environmental science, genetics and neuroscience.
On many university degree programmes life sciences may well be strictly interpreted as biology or some related aspect of it, so a typical course might include biological sciences, biomedical science or microbiology. Once you have graduated you can make a choice between the industry itself – whether the private or public sector – or go into academia.
In academia, positions and progression are very much defined by custom and habit. You could become a lecturer then senior lecturer, moving onto head of department or even professor. These posts would normally involve having a postgraduate degree such as MSc or Ph.D. All of these posts will involved teaching and research, together with the writing of papers and books and attendance at conferences, as well as the supervision and guidance of student postgraduate theses.
You may even carve out a niche for yourself in your specialism by writing highly original papers based on innovative research, which may then attract additional research funding. This is often a main driver for university departments, as the quality and volume of research becomes more important in national assessment exercises.
Outside Academia
Within industry, where you could take up the role of a ‘research scientist’, you will be designing and conducting experiments in your area of knowledge, with an ultimate focus on product innovation or an increase in understanding within your particular body of knowledge. As with academia, you can progress onto more senior roles in government or private research institutions.
For industry, graduates will start at just below the national average wage whereas for postgraduates the starting salary will be somewhat higher than this. And, in the private sector, salaries for managers will be higher either than the public sector or for the academic world. This may be due to the fact that research funding tends to be more readily available from national and global companies who want to invest in new developments in the life sciences in the hope of being at the forefront of innovations that will turn into profits.
Whether you are in industry or academia, the professional framework within which you operate will be pretty much the same. You will work on projects given to you by senior staff with the aim of managing and communicating the results to those with vested interests in your work. At some point, you may find a very specific area on research that you want to embark on, and this may lead you to be in the position of using your ideas to formulate and guide your researches.
You will expect some degree of training and development, which may be provided by your employer and the various Research Councils within the field, or even look to acquiring institutional status of the various chartered groups, which you can secure through the Society of Biology.