Research Assistant Position Description
Research is the lifeblood of many professional fields, and research assistants are the people who keep things moving. They work in law firms, science labs, consulting firms and publishing companies, doing research on various issues and topics. From the graduate student mixing solutions in a university chemistry lab to the recent graduate investigating aspects of criminal procedure for a district judge, research assistants are everywhere.
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Background
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Research assistants work in a variety of fields. Some work for universities, as researchers conducting studies and experiments in science labs, or assisting faculty in liberal arts and social science disciplines to complete their various investigations. Others work for government agencies, courts and think tanks, researching issues that are critical to the short- and long-term functions of their employers. Those who work in the academic realm have the opportunity to publish their research at periodic conferences and presentations each year.
Compensation
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Research assistants often work long hours for little pay. On average, they earn up to $31,000 annually as of June 2010, according to PayScale.com. Medical research assistants are the apparent exception, having the potential to earn up to $40,000 annually. Graduate students enrolled at many American universities can often have part of their tuition waived or paid for by the department that employs them to work as research assistants, in addition to receiving monthly living stipends as part of their financial aid awards.
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Nature of Work
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Research assistants' day-to-day tasks are as varied and numerous as are the organizations that employ them. For example, those working at law firms can spend hours researching the merits of a lawsuit on behalf of a client. Others work with renowned scientists and social scholars at major universities, conducting daily experiments in the interest of finding cures for devastating ailments, or scouring the Internet for articles discussing the causes of imbalance in wealth distribution in the U.S.
Publications and Other Duties
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Research assistants working at major universities are often assigned detailed research projects that take months or years to complete. They work with one or more faculty members in their chosen field, performing research on a particular problem or phenomenon, and publish their joint research in periodicals and academic journals.
In addition to performing research, graduate assistants working as research assistants will be assigned to teach a faculty member's undergraduate classes, often teaching classes for the faculty member they are already working for.
Conferences & Presentations
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Some research assistants get to present their findings at professional symposiums and conferences, especially those working at research labs and universities. Some work individually, with most opting to work with their faculty counterparts. Research assistants working in political science, for example, could possibly take a presentation to the annual conference for the American Political Science Association for peer and professional critique and review.
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References
Resources
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