What it pays
Government survey numbers — not estimates, not ads.
Half of all Biological Scientists, All Other in the U.S. earn more than $98,920 a year — the middle 80% land between $60,430 and $168,010. About 55,850 people in the U.S. do this work. Figures are for the U.S. occupation group “Biological Scientists, All Other”. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, published 2025.) In India, Professionals earn about ₹38,298 a month on average — around ₹4.6 lakh a year (government PLFS survey via ILOSTAT, occupation-family figure).
$98,920typical pay / year
55,850people in this work
$168,010+top 10% earn
₹4.6 lakha year in India (family avg)
Think you get this job?Six quick questions on how it really works — with a hint and the reason behind every answer.
Test yourself →The work, task by task
These are the real jobs-to-be-done, not a wish list. Each task shows where we found it, and the prompt underneath is written for that exact task.
Analysing4
Gather and analyse biological data
+Gather the raw sequencing reads and phenotype tables from the lab shared drive, clean and normalise the…
Gather and analyse biological data
+Gather the raw sequencing reads and phenotype tables from the lab shared drive, clean and normalise the biological measurements, run the agreed statistical tests, produce a one-page summary of findings and data quality by Wednesday for the PI and lab meeting.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS StatisticsESCOjob descriptionsO*NET
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Build and query biological databases
+Design and populate the species-variant database from the acquired CSVs, implement unique keys and indexes…
Build and query biological databases
+Design and populate the species-variant database from the acquired CSVs, implement unique keys and indexes for fast queries, create three example queries to retrieve variants by gene, sample and collection date, and hand over schema documentation to the database admin by Friday.
The tools that do the workGitESCOjob descriptionsO*NET
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Develop data models and databases.
+Draft the conceptual data model for the multi-omics project, define entity relationships and cardinality,…
Develop data models and databases.
+Draft the conceptual data model for the multi-omics project, define entity relationships and cardinality, produce an ER diagram and migration-ready table definitions, then circulate to the computational and wet-lab leads for feedback by Monday.
The tools that do the workApache Hadoopjob descriptionsO*NET
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Assist scientists in various fields including biotechnology and pharmaceutics
+Prepare a methods brief and a reproducible pipeline for the biotech collaborators: outline sample inclusion…
Assist scientists in various fields including biotechnology and pharmaceutics
+Prepare a methods brief and a reproducible pipeline for the biotech collaborators: outline sample inclusion criteria, the analytical steps, expected outputs and a small test dataset they can run, then send it to Dr. Chen and the project manager ahead of Friday's coordination call.
The tools that do the workBashESCOO*NET
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Convincing1
Create or modify web-based bioinformatics tools.
+Extend the web tool to add a batch upload endpoint and a results page that visualises expression heatmaps,…
Create or modify web-based bioinformatics tools.
+Extend the web tool to add a batch upload endpoint and a results page that visualises expression heatmaps, write the backend handler and front-end template, test with the lab's sample dataset and open a pull request for review before Thursday's sprint demo.
The tools that do the workDjangoGitESCOjob descriptionsO*NET
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The daily work15
Communicate research results through conference presentations, scientific publications, or project reports.
+Write a 12‑minute conference talk and a submission-ready manuscript that explain our latest error bounds on…
Communicate research results through conference presentations, scientific publications, or project reports.
+Write a 12‑minute conference talk and a submission-ready manuscript that explain our latest error bounds on the sparse matrix solver, include three slides of numerical results on the Stanford MRI dataset, a one‑paragraph impact statement for grant reviewers, and a checklist confirming all code and data are archived and citable before Friday.
The tools that do the workGitHubO*NET
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Consult with researchers to analyze problems, recommend technology-based solutions, or determine computational strategies.
+Meet with Jenna and Arjun to review their nonlinear optimization bottleneck, propose two computation…
Consult with researchers to analyze problems, recommend technology-based solutions, or determine computational strategies.
+Meet with Jenna and Arjun to review their nonlinear optimization bottleneck, propose two computation strategies with estimated runtimes and resource needs, and draft an experiment plan that I can implement and instrument next week to compare convergence and accuracy.
The tools that do the workC++O*NET
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Confer with departments, such as marketing, business development, or operations, to coordinate product development or improvement.
+Convene a one‑hour working session with product, marketing, and operations to present our analytic prototype…
Confer with departments, such as marketing, business development, or operations, to coordinate product development or improvement.
+Convene a one‑hour working session with product, marketing, and operations to present our analytic prototype for adaptive pricing, collect their product constraints and launch metrics, and produce a prioritized list of three model changes that engineering must build for the next sprint.
The tools that do the workDjangoO*NET
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Recommend new systems and processes to improve operations.
+Run a rapid review of current workflows, map the three manual bottlenecks in data ingestion and model…
Recommend new systems and processes to improve operations.
+Run a rapid review of current workflows, map the three manual bottlenecks in data ingestion and model retraining, recommend a two‑phase automation plan with expected gains and required staffing, and circulate the one‑page proposal to ops leadership by Wednesday.
The tools that do the workDockerO*NET
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Prepare summary statistics of information regarding human genomes.
+Produce summary statistics for the 1000‑sample whole‑genome cohort: allele frequency tables, variant counts…
Prepare summary statistics of information regarding human genomes.
+Produce summary statistics for the 1000‑sample whole‑genome cohort: allele frequency tables, variant counts per chromosome, and PCA plots, include a two‑paragraph methods note on filtering, and deposit the tables with metadata so collaborators can reanalyse them.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS StatisticsO*NET
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Mine diverse biological data types
+Assemble an integrated dataset combining expression, methylation, and clinical records, run exploratory…
Mine diverse biological data types
+Assemble an integrated dataset combining expression, methylation, and clinical records, run exploratory clustering to highlight three candidate biomarker groups, document preprocessing steps and data provenance, and hand the cleaned dataset to the biology team for validation.
The tools that do the workApache Hadoopjob descriptions
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Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams
+Join the oncology team meeting Tuesday, explain the model assumptions and error bounds in plain language,…
Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams
+Join the oncology team meeting Tuesday, explain the model assumptions and error bounds in plain language, note where experimentalists need different inputs, and assign next steps so software engineers can update the pipeline by Friday.
The tools that do the workGitHubjob descriptions
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Report progress to project leaders
+Prepare a two‑page progress brief for Dr. Morales and the program director summarising experiments completed,…
Report progress to project leaders
+Prepare a two‑page progress brief for Dr. Morales and the program director summarising experiments completed, parameter estimates with confidence intervals, blockers in data ingestion, and the decisions I need by Thursday afternoon.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS Statisticsjob descriptions
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Report on their findings
+Draft a findings memo for the grant committee that presents the key result, supporting plots, sensitivity…
Report on their findings
+Draft a findings memo for the grant committee that presents the key result, supporting plots, sensitivity checks, and recommended next experiments, then circulate it to Dr. Chen and Anna in analytics by end of day Wednesday.
The tools that do the workGitHubESCO
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Collect DNA samples
+Coordinate the sample collection schedule with field techs, list required tubes and labels, confirm…
Collect DNA samples
+Coordinate the sample collection schedule with field techs, list required tubes and labels, confirm cold‑chain pickup times with logistics, and update the central sample registry after each collection during this two‑week window.
The tools that do the workGitHubESCO
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Discover data patterns
+Run exploratory analyses to surface recurring correlations and anomalous clusters in the latest cohort,…
Discover data patterns
+Run exploratory analyses to surface recurring correlations and anomalous clusters in the latest cohort, produce three representative visualisations with brief captions, and post them to the team board for Monday review.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS StatisticsESCO
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Interpret current data
+Reanalyse the newest dataset to update trend estimates, highlight any shifts versus last quarter, document…
Interpret current data
+Reanalyse the newest dataset to update trend estimates, highlight any shifts versus last quarter, document assumptions and code used, and push the cleaned data and a one‑page summary to the shared project folder by Wednesday.
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Maintain database
+Update the experiment results table with last week's csv exports, run the integrity checks, reconcile…
Maintain database
+Update the experiment results table with last week's csv exports, run the integrity checks, reconcile mismatched rows with the lab notes, back up the revised database copy, and report any unresolved schema issues by Wednesday.
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Present reports
+Prepare the quarterly analysis slide deck using the cleaned dataset, highlight the three anomalous model runs…
Present reports
+Prepare the quarterly analysis slide deck using the cleaned dataset, highlight the three anomalous model runs with charts and p-values, draft one-page executive summary, and circulate to Dr. Chen and the faculty committee by Friday.
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Gather data
+Harvest the new simulation output and public dataset feeds, normalise fields to the master schema, flag…
Gather data
+Harvest the new simulation output and public dataset feeds, normalise fields to the master schema, flag incomplete records, append provenance notes, and deliver the consolidated dataset to the team folder before the next meeting.
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Says who?
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Related careers
Same family of work — each with its own tasks and prompts.
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Built on public evidence: O*NET®, ESCO, Wikipedia, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ILOSTAT. All sources & licenses
Built on public evidence: O*NET®, ESCO, Wikipedia, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ILOSTAT. All sources & licenses