Research Assistant

A Research Assistant helps conduct research for clean energy development.

At a university, a Research Assistant typically aids professors with research and teaching responsibilities. To become a tenured Professor, a Research Assistant needs to obtain a PhD and gain experience through performance-based promotions by conducting significant research and lecturing to undergraduate students. A typically career path to become a university professor progresses from Assistant Professor, to Associate Professor, to Professor.

At an organization, a Research Assistant’s primary responsibility is to conduct research, collect and analyze data, and generate suggestions for developing or improving a protocol, process, design, or product.

EXAMPLE SCENARIO

A Research Assistant is supporting research to increase the energy efficiency of a hydroelectric dam for a comprehensive study on a clean energy report. During the research, the Research Assistant conducts multiple experiments, both on-site and in the lab, and collects the data for several months. The data is analyzed and results are written into a scientific report to show the lead researcher the findings.

TYPICAL TASKS SRC

  • Maintaining quality controls standards to preserve the integrity of data and findings
  • Scheduling and conducting interviews
  • Selecting a place to conduct interviews and getting permission from all participants
  • Analyzing data using various statistical methods
  • Writing reports to summarize data and the implications of the results
  • Researching information

EXAMPLE JOB TITLES SRC

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Research Associate

MEDIAN PAY SRC

$69,000

EDUCATION & TRAINING LEVEL

Bachelor’s Degree

WORK EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

0-2 years

SKILLS & REQUIREMENTS

Analytical Skills, Communication Skills, Interpersonal Skills, Organizational Skills, Technical Skills, Research Skills, Teaching Skills, Writing Skills, Tool and Equipment Handling

SIMILAR OCCUPATIONS

Lecturers, Research Engineer, Professors, Scientist