Research Assistant
On this page
- What's it like to be a Research Assistant?
- How to become a Research Assistant
- Latest Research Assistant jobs
- Top skills and experience for Research Assistants
- Is Research Assistant the right role for you?
- Research Assistant role reviews
What's it like to be a Research Assistant?
Research Assistants help researchers in universities, medical research facilities, think tanks and other industries conduct their work. They are often current or recently graduated university students, particularly post-graduate students or PhD candidates, who work in the researcher’s disciplinary field. Research Assistants typically do the work that would take the lead researcher a long time. This can include archival research, data entry, fact checking and typing out notes.
Tasks and duties
- Carrying out experiments and research in alignment with protocols set by senior team members.
- Collecting and recording data.
- Conducting analyses of datasets.
- Preparing models to display results.
- Reviewing academic literature.
- Creating presentations based off key results.
- Fact checking, editing and proofreading research documents for accuracy and consistency.
- Maintaining laboratory equipment and inventory.
- Recruiting study participants.
How to become a Research Assistant
There’s no single pathway to becoming a Research Assistant, but completing a relevant degree is the most common pathway.
Complete a bachelor degree in a field relevant to the area you’d like to work in.
Consider completing an honours year, a masters degree, or a PhD. Many Research Assistant jobs come about through professional connections. This is especially common during post-graduate studies.
To work as a Research Assistant outside of academia, complete your undergraduate or postgraduate studies and network widely in your field at conferences and seminars.
