Formations et parcours :
Training and paths :
Licences Sciences et Technologie
· Siences de la Vie
· Sciences de la Terre

Master Sciences Technologie Santé
· Sciences de la vie et de la santé(research)
- Biologie des adaptations et des interactions
- Ecologie, Evolution et Plasticité des génomes
- Génétique, développement et immunité
- Pharmacologie, Physiologie et Neurobiologie
· Ingénierie du Système de Santé
· Sciences et Technologies du Mouvement humain

A LABORATORY MAN/WOMAN

Biologists, these "Sciences of Life" specialists, are present, nearly by definition, in all domains of activity : health, agriculture, food industry, water, chemistry, energy, environment, teaching...

Their activities, research or analysis, are carried out in a very specialised subject. But whether they are physiologist or microbiologist, biochemist or biophysicist, geneticist or immunologist, zoologist or botanist, cytologist or embryologist, ecologist or biotechnologist, the biologist is above all  a laboratory man/woman implementing very sophisticated techniques. The wide field of activities offered to the biologists however must not be an illusion : even at a very high level of training, their integration in a stable job which corresponds to their qualifications remains  long and difficult.

Activities

Manipulations, publications, communication

The activities of a researcher in biology is axed around three directions :
Intellectual activities : preparation of laboratory work, sometimes very long because of the complexity of the equipment, then the study of the results. But the important things about the intellectual activity are of a documentary, bibliographic and  editorial nature. Each researcher publishes one or several articles per year where he/she describes the experimental part of his/her work, the results obtained, the analysis and the observations of these results, and finally establishes a summary which opens on to new interrogations.

Manual activities, these depend on the techniques used :
- microscope observations (photonic, fluorescent, scanning and electronic microscopes) ;
- cell culture in sterile chambers (often repetitive work) ;
- electrophorese techniques;
- molecule isolation techniques;
- molecule separation with all biochemistry techniques.

The manipulation time itself may be quite short because of the sophistication of the equipment. However, the preparation time implies much longer hours in the laboratory.

Communication activities : publications, participation in conferences, international and national exchanges, relations with the industrial world and universities ; teaching in universities.

Finally, one must take into account administrative functions and representation, often time consuming, especially for laboratory directors.

 

Work conditions

Team work in laboratories

The biologist's profession is a laboratory profession. Even for the ecologists, the zoologists and the botanists, the field work recedes more and more to profit laboratory observations and evaluations with the help of modern techniques, especially computer sciences. There is no more isolated research. It is always a team work, within each laboratory. If there is a certain repetitive aspect in the technical part, and if the work rhythms are mainly regular, one must also know how to adapt, depending on the type of research and depending on the organisation, to the uncertainties of living material that do not take into consideration  the day or the hour ! Apart from the outings on the field or occasional conferences, researchers are encouraged to "turn" between French or foreign laboratories, or pass to the industrial world via the internship system.

The biologist work in hospitals, universities, research centres, public organisations (CNRS, INSERM, INRA), public research laboratories (Institut Pasteur, CIRAD) or private laboratories. All the firms know that it is in their interest to research. The large and medium sized firms have their own research teams, whereas the small firms resort to university contracts.

Career-promotion

Promotion : the narrow door

There are hardly any promotion possibilities at this level of skills. In public research organisations, the people responsible for research may have access to jobs as research managers, whereas in universities the lecturers may become professors. In the two cases, the path is difficult. There remains the possibility of turning towards the private sector, for example, by opening ones laboratory, but in this case the research activities are often replaced by administrative and managerial activities.

Required skills

Curiosity, perseverance, handyman... balance !

One cannot work in this profession without being enthusiastic, but it also requires intellectual and human qualities in particular : a methodical mind capable of analysis, intellectual rigour as well  imagination, curiosity, the taste for the deepening of the subject,  the search for the causes ; a taste for experimentation, creativity, technological makeshift repairs.

But one must know when to "stop" his/her research in order to communicate the results before continuing with further interrogations. A good psychological balance is essential, as it is not easy to provide very important work without always obtaining the expected results.

All this does not exclude a certain manual capacity and a developed technical mind allowing one to create and perfect equipment, and detect a breakdown. One must know how to adapt to new techniques. A good basic training in mathematics and computer systems will contribute to this. Besides, biologists, who are dedicated to their work and reply to questions infinitely "specialised", they must nevertheless possess a wide knowledge of all other scientific subjects. Finally, the command of written and spoken English is essential. All communications are directly written in English, and there are no more interpreters in international conferences...

Openings-Salaries

A laborious integration, more within firms

The domains in which the young biologists may work are extremely varied and wide, but all these possibilities represent few jobs. Young doctors in life sciences undergo real integration difficulties and lack of job security, for they are also subject to competition from chemists, doctors and agricultural engineers.
The jobs in public research which are highly coveted because of the interest of the work, remain few in numbers and annually take in only a part of the new diploma holders. The majority of  Maîtrises, DESS, DEA manage to integrate the private sector : in the food processing industry, in pharmaceuticals, in chemistry, hygiene, health, the environment (water treatment and waste).

The annual gross salary of a person responsible for research, starting work in a public organisation (CNRS, INRA, etc.) is around 22 000 Euros, whereas, that of a lecturer is of 24 000 Euros.

In the private sector, the annual gross starting salary of a doctor in life sciences is around 28 000 Euros.

Se documenter

Bibliography

"La biologie". Avenirs nø463-464. ONISEP
"Les metiers des biotechnologies"- Parcours - ONISEP
"Les métiers de la santé"- Parcours - ONISEP
"Les professions" "médicales". Avenirs nø492. ONISEP
"Agriculture et agroalimentaire". Avenirs nø476-477. ONISEP
"Biotechnologue". Fiche métier. ONISEP
"Technicien biologiste". Fiche métier. ONISEP
"Etudes scientifiques". Dossier. ONISEP

Organisations to be consulted

L'Association Bernard Grégory, 53 rue de Turbigo, 75003 Paris - France. Tel. : 33 (0)1 42 74 27 40, aide à l'insertion professionnelle en entreprise des jeunes scientifiques formés par la recherche.