How to become a scientist in 7 steps For Beginners

Most of the students think in their childhood, it’s a miracle to become a scientist. When you ask any student about their aim maximum says “I want to be a scientist” but after their higher 10th or secondary due to of the less knowledge about scientist they change their path.

In truth, it’s not a miracle, but here you need lots of effort, hard work and lots of preparation.

There are so many topics on which you can choose your interest, and you can do your research on it.

This is a very prestigious position as a scientist. When a country develops in certain areas, the first name comes from a scientist.

Without a scientist, a country can’t go towards success.

There are many job options as a scientist, and you can start your career in your country and abroad too.

Here we will discuss all the details about eligibility criteria, career opportunities, job roles.

Eligibility criteria to become a scientist

There are eligibility criteria to become a scientist.

• You should belong to a science background in 10th and 12th.
• Candidate should have completed their education from a recognized university.
• Candidate must have 60% marks in graduation.
• For master degree holders they must have 65% above marks.
• You should have an internship in the relevant course.

Scientist Job Roles

There are many job options that you can choose from. Depending on your interest and study, you can choose a job field where you can start your scientific career. Here I was going to mention some scientist job roles.

1. Biologists

Here you can work as Neuroscientists, Molecular biologists, Geneticists, Computational biologists. These are the specializations you can choose under biologists.

Become a scientist under Biological science

• Bioenergy
• Brain Science
• Conservation Biology
• Biotechnology
• BioNanotechnology
• Computational Biology
• Marine Biotechnology
• Microbiology
• Immunology
• Food Science and Technology
• Molecular Biology
• Genetics
• Cognitive Sciences
• Cell and Tissue Engineering Sciences
• Biomedical Sciences
• Biochemistry
• Astrobiology
• Cellular and Molecular Biology
• Conservation Biology
• Marine Ecology and Conservation
• Biological Imaging Signals and Sensors

 

2. Astronomers

If you have an interest in stars, the moon, the sky then this is the right job role. Where you can follow your passion, and you can do your research as well. Astronomers generally research about planetary and galaxies.

3. Food Scientists

Food scientists will research foods and their ingredients here. Develop new methods to improve food productions. They also ensure food quality as per govt laws. You can work in food companies as a food scientist or in the research and development department too.

Eligibility Criteria for Food Scientist

• Candidate must have a post-graduate degree or PhD degree in food science.
• Should have good skills in critical thinking, data analysis and communication also.
• Candidate should complete their degree in food microbiology and food science.

Food Scientist Job Opportunities

There are so many options in India where you can find a job opportunity for a food scientist.

• You can work in universities like IIT and NIT as a professor or as a researcher.
• You can find a job in government labs like WHO, FSSAI, ICMR.
• If you are in abroad, an easy option is you can work in universities or food research labs too.
• There are so many private organizations where you can work as a food scientist.

4. Ethologist

Ethologist works to find the behaviour of animals and situations what they face by humans. If you are a pet lover, this specialization will perfect for you.

5. Paleontologist

Here you will research the life of the earth with the help of fossils. It proves the particular area of life where they get a piece of in-depth knowledge about earth history.

6. Botanist

From this name you can know that it all about the plant. They research about all type of plants and study their growth, survive time, structure. For biology students, this is the best job role for them.

7. Agronomist

Agronomist research for agriculture. They study the new technologies to improve farming and find different ways to cultivate plants.

8. Geologist

Here geologist research about the liquid, solid, gas and rock formation. They study all-natural formations in the earth.

9. Marine Biologist

A marine biologist is the one who researches about the sea. In oceans, they research about sea plants and animals. Here they mainly research about their diseases and their behaviours.

10. Seismologist

Seismologists work to research earthquakes and natural disasters. He also researches on landslides, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis. And they analyze all these disasters.

11. Ecologist

An ecologist will research on deserts, wetlands, forests, and ecosystems. They research about natural habitats and protect the ecosystems.

12. Neuroscientists

Neuroscientists study for psychology, molecular and biochemistry—the research on the main nervous system along with brain and nerve cells.

Step #1: Prepare yourself:

Start your preparation after joining 10th. This is the first stage where you can plan your scientist journey.

Before preparing for the scientist, you must know if you have any interest in science or not. Here you will solve everything using mathematics, physics and chemistry.

A learning mindset is needed because here, you will search until your research is not complete.

Know your communication skills, aptitude skills level and try to improve it.

While studying in 10th/high secondary, you must take a science subject with mathematics, physics and chemistry. These are subjects that you will have to adopt in your school education.

1. Enhance your writing skills

It’s very necessary to improve your writing skills. When you research for a topic, and on publishing time it required. To improve your skill, you should read research papers and journals too.

2. Keep yourself updated

Everyday innovations emerge. While researching for a paper, you need more latest details on a topic to publish your paper. So try to update yourself every day. Otherwise, here you will miss a lot of things.

Step #2: Find a Mentor

The mentor is the one who can guide you to become a scientist. Starting from the beginning, they can help you get step by step with content, books and guides.
You can find them from your relatives or as college professors.

Step #3: Choose Right Degree After 12^th

After completing the schooling now, it’s time to choose the right degree in your graduation.
Above I have mentioned the job roles. Look at these and decide which field you are interested in. As per your interest, you can choose any degree specialization that will be related to your scientific job role.

It can also help you to understand all studies easily.

There are no minimum marks to obtain in 12th but to improve your profile and job possibilities, and you need a good percentage.

Step #4: Enrol in Master Programs

If you want to continue your studies for Masters, then you need to choose the related subject in which you want to continue as a scientist.

Generally, two year time need to complete your master degree. It all depends on your research.

Step #5: Obtain a PhD

As a scientist, it matters you have a PHD or not. Before applying for a job, you should complete your PhD. It will help you to enhance your knowledge, and with the help of this degree, you can get a job quickly in a prestigious company.

Usually, a PhD program takes 6 to 7 years to complete it.

Step #6: Apply for Internship

Internship plays here a very important role. While preparing for bachelor’s and master’s degree, try to enrol in an internship. You can do an internship as a research assistant in any university labs and companies. It will help you to get a scientist job quickly.

Otherwise, you can contact your professors for an internship, and you can work with them as an assistant.

Step #7: Find a Job

After completing all these above steps, now it’s time for looking for a job. Till now you have spent almost 24 to 30 years of life in studies.

Well, spending this much of time on studies and after all your hard works you can get a job quickly.

Here I will be going to mention some tips which will help you to find a job.

In India, there are lots of companies and organizations where they required for a scientist post. You can find jobs at government research centres, engineering fields, agricultural machinery or research companies, space research centres. These are some of the areas where you can find.

If you have a reference from a good company, it can help you to join there.

You can search for a job according to your degree specialization.

Job Fields for Scientist

• Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology
• Council of Scientific & Industrial Research
• Indian Association for Cultivation of Science
• Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
• Defence Research and Development Organization
• Indian Space Research Organization
• Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences
• Indian Association for Cultivation of Science
• Council of Scientific & Industrial Research
• Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology

How to join ISRO as a scientist

ISRO stands for Indian space research organization. If you have any degree from a recognized university like NIT, IIT then you can get a job here easily.

Every year ISRO conduct an ICRB exam to select a candidate as a scientist.

Candidates having a degree like radio engineering, aerospace engineering and mechanical engineering can easily apply in ISRO.

How to join CSIR as a scientist

There is a total of 38 CSIR labs in India. After master you can apply for scholarship programmes and completing the doctoral degree you can get a job here.

Eligibility Criteria OF CSIR

The minimum recruitment to get a job in CSIR, you must have a master degree in their related field with 55% of marks.

The aspirant must not be 28 years above.

CSIR Exam Pattern

The exam will conduct in online mode. You will attend here 200 questions within 3 hours. The paper comes with both Hindi and English.

How to join NASA as a scientist

NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. One of the large research organization in the world is NASA. To work as a scientist at NASA is very difficult. If you want to join here, you must have a new invention with a research paper.

Every year NASA provides a scholarship for new aspirants. To achieve this, you need a lot of hard work and effort too. There will also be a lot of rejection here, but you need to try many times until you have achieved it.

After receiving a scholarship at NASA, it increases the chances of getting a scientific job at NASA.

Books to become a scientist

While preparing for the scientist, you need so much hard work and effort. Without books and materials, you can not achieve your dream. Here I am going to mention some books which will help you a lot while preparing for the scientist.

• Modern epidemiology (Kenneth Rothman)
• The pleasure of finding things out (Richard)
• The story of earth (Robert M. Hazen)
• A brief history of time (Stephen Hawking)
• Encyclopedia of space science and technology (Maureen Salkin)
• Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Isaac Newton)
• The mammoth book of unexplained phenomena (Roy Bainton)
• A universe from nothing (Atria)
• Cell Biology, Genetics, Molecular biology, evolution & ecology (S.Chand)
• The origin of species (Charles Darwin)
• Physics for scientist and engineers with modern physics (John W. Jewett)

Difference Between Researcher and Scientist

This is a common question that comes to the mind of every aspirant. Here they both give equal effort. Both positions of a scientist and researcher are similar, but there are some few differences.

Let’s discuss the difference between both of these.

Researcher

• A researcher can research in a non-scientific topic.
• A researcher always tries to solve a problem organized and systematic.

Scientist

• As a scientist, he observes and verify the particular topic and applies the data to a project.
• A scientist can be a researcher too.

Best Research Universities in India

There are so many universities in India where you can study to become a scientist. Choosing the right college is more important for your future. If you choose a wrong college, it can ruin your career as well as your all efforts and hard works.

Below I mentioned some right college where you can apply.

• CSIR-Central for Cellular Molecular Biology (Hyderabad)
• CSIR-Advanced Materials and processes Research Institute (Bhopal)
• Satyendra Nath Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences (Kolkata)
• CSIR-Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute (Pilani)
• National Institute of Science Education and Research (Bhubaneswar)
• CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (Kerala)
• Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (Pune)
• Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (Tirupathi)
• International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (Bangalore)
• Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (Pune)
• TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences (Hyderabad)
• Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Mumbai)
• UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific Research (Indore)
• Physical Research Laboratory (Ahmedabad)
• Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (Bangalore)

Pros and Cons for Scientist

Every occupation has its pro and cons. As a scientist also some advantages and disadvantages are there.

Pros

• It’s a high paying and reputed job.
• You can work for your nation too.
• There is no age limit for this job. Some organization allows you can work till your death.
• With your research, you can give innovation to the world.
• Every day you will learn new things during your research.
• With your works, you can make history.

Cons

• It takes 24 to 30 years to become a scientist.
• It’s a responsible job. With your small mistakes, it can harm someone.
• Some researches take a lifetime to complete.
• Here you cannot spend a good time with your family.

How much is a scientist salary?

By the way, scientific is a high paid job. For some time, it depends on which company you work for.

Like if you work as a food scientist, botanist, Microbiologist, meteorologist and marine biologist you can aspect your salary from minimum 1,50,000 per year to a maximum 10,00,000 per year.

If you want to work as an astronomer, seismologist, seismologist and geologist, you can aspect your salary from minimum 6,00,000/- per year to a maximum 12,00,000/- per year.

Conclusion

I hope here I cover all the necessary thing to become a scientist in India.

If you have a dream for scientist from today onwards, start preparing for it. Try to prepare for entrance exams. Find a good college to start your career as a scientist. Choose the right path, on which you have an interest. Try to find an internship for you and complete your doctorate. At last, find your dream job in a good place.

Here you need a lot of patience to achieve it. Mostly here you need a good amount of effort so that you can fulfil your dream.

Now you have got all the points that I am trying to say.

If you have any questions in your mind, you can ask below comment section.