People who research bioluminescence?

Question

What Credentials are needed?
Special skills?
What would your job title be?
Projected need for this vocation?
Average salary?
-i've only been able to find info on the bioluminescent creatures.

Answer 1

It all depends on where you do your research, and what you hope to get out of it. If you want to do lots of lab work and just be involved in the research, you would need at least a B.S. in some sort of biology or biochemistry. Any lab and research experience would be a big plus. The job title would probably be Lab Assistant or Research Assistant, but it varies from school to school. Salary wouldn't be that high, probably starting in the 30-40k's.

If you want to conduct your own research, you would most likely need either a PhD or LOTS of previous experience. Getting a PhD involves lots of work and lots of research, and generally takes 4-6 years, but (in my experience) it is more like a job than school. Most schools will even pay you a stipend, but that amount will vary based on the school. After you get a PhD, the amount of pay varies based on where you get a job, but corporate research tends to pay much better than academic research.

Unfortunately, running your own lab isn't all about the research. There are a lot of administrative tasks too, like writing papers, applying for grants, hiring and managing employees. The hours are also very long, and requires lots of work at home.

As a research assistant or research associate, you won't have complete control over your research (i.e. your boss will have the final say on your project, though a good boss will take your views and interests into account). On the other hand, a research assistant can work 9-5 for the most part (research occasionally requires a little extra time on weekends or at odd hours, based on the experiment), and doesn't have to take his or her work home.

If you do a search on PubMed (the link below) for bioluminescence, you'll probably find loads of papers. On the title page, associated with the authors, it will tell you the institution that the researchers are associated with.