Also called: Imaging Core Manager, Light Microscopy Specialist
Runs a university's advanced microscopes and helps scientists capture images of cells, tissues, and materials.
Researchers book time on your million-dollar confocal and super-resolution microscopes, and you teach them how to use them without breaking anything. You troubleshoot lasers and cameras, help design imaging experiments, and process stunning 3D images of glowing cells.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in biology, physics, or chemistry; master's or PhD for manager roles.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Biology, Physics, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry.
Growing about average. BLS does not project this specialty separately; rating estimated from related occupations.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI cleans up and analyzes images automatically; running microscopes and training researchers stay human.
Classes: AP Physics, AP Biology, Photography.
Official data: O*NET occupation 19-4099.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.