Mira
In your personal opinion, is it better to do research with a company or a university? Why?
I know that I want to be a researcher. I have been thinking about neurology, but I know it will be in the biological field. I am just unsure about whether or not I want to work as a professor at a university or a scientist at a company. I know there are pros and cons to both. My father is a professor and he is always writing grants, plus he has to teach. My mother works with a company and she does not get ownership of her own patents and discoveries (as the company uses them however they see fit), plus there is a possibility for pressure to bias the data. I just want more insight to consider each career path with. #college #science #graduate-school #research #laboratory
2 answers
Christopher Weeks
Christopher’s Answer
Hi Mira,
My advice to you would be to go and try both, I would look to get a internship at both a research lab in a company and a research lab at a University. It sounds like you already know the field you're interested in, which is great. Therefore, I would look at the top / main universities and companies that are doing the best research in neurology or biological related fields and contact them.
Mira have you already started to study for a bachelor or masters? Just most research labs in both universities and industry will require one.
Finally, in building your career it is very easy to transfer between industry research and academic research, as long as you become a expert in your area of interest, so far I have done:
- internships in research labs in universities,
- internships in large research labs at large companies,
- completed a masters which is a lot more academically focused,
- and now I am currently spending 75% of my time at a research lab in a large company and 25% of my time doing more academic focused research for a University.
Hope this helps and please let me know if you have any other questions.
Kind regards,
Chris
Jamie Dunning
Jamie’s Answer
Like you mention there are pros and cons for each side. I actually started out in academia, it was great for networking and really diving deep on a research topic. The hours were great with a ton of flexibility, however, my paychecks were based on grants. There were times I was afraid that if we didn't win a grant I would be working for free. As you move up you can start making decent money as a faculty member, however as a research assistant I was not making great money. About 5 years later I moved to industry, the money generally is way better, however there are things you give up. There is more bureaucracy, typically more rules to follow within your research due to SOP's and regulations, like you mention patent rights, your time may not be as flexible. I would recommend making a list of the things you want in a career. For example, flexible schedule, pay, focusing on a research question that can take years/decades to uncover (typical academia), opportunities to go outside of that function (in industry there are many more doors to open like regulatory, marketing, clinical, etc.) These should be a good start to understand what type of work environment you most desire. Good Luck!