Also called: Applications Scientist, Scientific Instrument Specialist
Travels to labs to install, demo, and troubleshoot advanced scientific instruments like electron microscopes and lasers.
This week you fly to a university to set up a new microscope and train the grad students; next week you help a pharma company figure out why their results look odd. It's science plus travel plus people skills.
Includes commission or bonus in some roles.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 5 years after high school. Bachelor's in physics, chemistry, or engineering; often a master's or PhD.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Materials Science.
Growing about average. BLS does not project this specialty separately; rating estimated from related occupations.
Low risk for 10 years. AI chatbots handle simple questions, but installing instruments and training people on site stay human.
Classes: AP Physics, AP Chemistry, Speech.
Official data: O*NET occupation 41-9031.
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.