Research Technician
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Research Technician provides technical support to a research program or project. Responsibilities typically include preparing laboratory materials, operating scientific equipment, performing experiments, collecting and recording data, and ensuring compliance with laboratory safety standards. Works in a variety of fields within science or the social sciences, in programs based at a university or research institution, or works on government or industry sponsored research projects. Conducts field or library research or recruits participants for a study; may also assist with legal research. These roles typically have training in laboratory techniques and may hold relevant degrees or certifications to applicable fields.
Job Outlook
There were 441 Research Technician job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 9661 in the United States.
We do not have this data at this time.
Salary
Many new Research Technician jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $64,373.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $59,246.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Research Technician postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $44,893.
Education and Experience
Posted Research Technician jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 47.97% |
| Master's Degree | 11.26% |
| Doctoral Degree | 6% |
| Other | 24.58% |
Posted Research Technician jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 70.6% |
| 3 to 5 years | 24.62% |
| 6 to 8 years | 3.19% |
| 9+ years | 1.58% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Research Technician positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Research (96.24%)
- Communication (30.67%)
- Detail Oriented (19.56%)
- Writing (17.93%)
- Management (17.02%)
- Organizational Skills (12.82%)
- Operations (12.48%)
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (11.86%)
- Microsoft Office (10.31%)
- Microsoft Excel (9.28%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Biology (46.15%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Laboratory Experience (22.33%)
- Cell Biology (13.57%)
- Molecular Biology (23.47%)
- Animal Husbandry (8.93%)
- Animal Care (4.32%)
- Laboratory Equipment (24.8%)
- Data Entry (12.26%)
- Data Analysis (15.78%)
- Cell Cultures (16.85%)
- Biochemistry (15.28%)
- Tissue Culture (9.42%)
- Chemistry (13.69%)
- Data Collection (23.76%)
- Biochemical Assays (18.62%)
- Reagent (10.47%)
- Clinical Trials (7.62%)
- Clinical Research (8.83%)
- Standard Operating Procedure (8.38%)
- Physics (4.71%)
- Laboratory Techniques (11.74%)
- Polymerase Chain Reaction (14.85%)
- Research Experiences (12.07%)
- Ribonucleic Acid Sequencing (9.37%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Genotyping (8.37%)
- Western Blot (7.79%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Genotyping (58.6%)
- Western Blot (54.55%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Research Technician skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Laboratory Research Technician
- Biological Research Technician
- Research and Development Technician
- Research Study Coordinator
- Clinical Research Technician
- Medical Research Technician
- Research Specialist
- Building Systems Engineer
- Research Technician/Laboratory Manager
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Research Associate (General)
- Research Assistant
- Molecular Biologist
- Biologist (General)
- Medical Research Scientist
- Cell Biologist
- Biochemist
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Research Technician jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Washington University in St Louis (226)
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (181)
- University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (164)
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (155)
- Baylor College of Medicine (155)
- University of Pittsburgh (149)
- University Of Michigan (119)
- Massachusetts General Hospital (116)
- University at Buffalo (114)
- University of Washington (111)
North Carolina
- North Carolina State University (68)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (55)
- Duke University (51)
- North Carolina State Of (36)
- University of North Carolina Wilmington (34)
- University of North Carolina (21)
- East Carolina University (10)
- North Carolina A & T State University (8)
- Wake Forest Baptist Health (8)
- Eurofins (7)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
- Fundamentals of Entomology Undergraduate Certificates
- Microbiology Undergraduate Certificates
- Statistics Master's Degrees
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.