Research assistant jobs

Socorro

Hi all,

I've recently completed a degree in Neuroscience and I'm contemplating where to go next. I feel like a PhD should be the next step for me but I'm not 100% sure whether I want this or not. Ideally I would do a Masters but there's none that really appeal to me in Dublin and I can't afford to both pay for a Masters and pay to move away somewhere else. So I was thinking the best thing to do would be to get some more research experience to decide whether I really want to apply for a PhD.

Questions! Is it possible to get a job as a research assistant job with just your primary degree? Are there many of these jobs around? How would I go about looking for one?

Thanks!

cgc5483

Socorro wrote: »

Hi all,

I've recently completed a degree in Neuroscience and I'm contemplating where to go next. I feel like a PhD should be the next step for me but I'm not 100% sure whether I want this or not. Ideally I would do a Masters but there's none that really appeal to me in Dublin and I can't afford to both pay for a Masters and pay to move away somewhere else. So I was thinking the best thing to do would be to get some more research experience to decide whether I really want to apply for a PhD.

Questions! Is it possible to get a job as a research assistant job with just your primary degree? Are there many of these jobs around? How would I go about looking for one?

Thanks!

Congrats on completing the degree. Yes it is possible to get a research assistant position and in fact I would have worked with several people in the past in your position. Unfortunately, at the present moment in time there are not so many such positions available due to reduced funding and the fact that they was such emphasis in the last few years on increasing PhD student numbers. There is incredible competition at the moment for such positions and I've seen people with PhD and lots of publications apply for research assistant positions. Your lack of experience and the probability that you are just using the position as a stepping stone to going someplace else for a PhD will work against you.

Where to search. All the college websites have Vacancies sections, naturejobs.com etc

Good luck

Phoenixx

I am wondering for an 8 week contract how much would a research assistant get paid, the job description said standard rate of pay for this position but what is that? I have a degree and admin exp

Socorro

Thanks for your help. Yeah I'm hearing that it is difficult to get these jobs these days. I have a friend with a BSc and MSc who got turned down because there were more qualified people going for the same position.

Maybe a Masters would be a better option. Really dont think I can afford it this year, if there's even still time left to apply now? I might keep an eye out for research assistant jobs but just aim to make some money anywhere to apply for a Masters next year.

cgc5483

Phoenixx wrote: »

I am wondering for an 8 week contract how much would a research assistant get paid, the job description said standard rate of pay for this position but what is that? I have a degree and admin exp

Without knowing the field and university it is difficult to say. Most universities are following the IUA scales which are available on: http://www.iua.ie/iua-activities/research.html

If it is funded from a grant it will dictate what level you start on.

cgc5483

Socorro wrote: »

Thanks for your help. Yeah I'm hearing that it is difficult to get these jobs these days. I have a friend with a BSc and MSc who got turned down because there were more qualified people going for the same position.

Maybe a Masters would be a better option. Really dont think I can afford it this year, if there's even still time left to apply now? I might keep an eye out for research assistant jobs but just aim to make some money anywhere to apply for a Masters next year.

To be honest if you want to do a PhD you would be better off going straight in without the Masters. The majority of taught Masters would not be of much benefit if its a PhD you want to do.

Phoenixx

Thanks, just found out Im getting 11.40 per hour seems good!

Socorro

cgc5483 wrote: »

To be honest if you want to do a PhD you would be better off going straight in without the Masters. The majority of taught Masters would not be of much benefit if its a PhD you want to do.

My issue is that I don't know for sure that I want to do a PhD yet. The only research experience I have is my final year project (which didn't involve a lot of lab hours at all). A PhD seems like a huge commitment that I don't really feel ready for yet.

So ideally I'd like to get paid to be a research assistant rather than pay to do a Masters Maybe I'll look into research assistant jobs in the UK, there might be more over there.

opinion guy

Can you get a sponsored/funded masters in the UK or something?

djpbarry

Socorro wrote: »

So ideally I'd like to get paid to be a research assistant rather than pay to do a Masters Maybe I'll look into research assistant jobs in the UK, there might be more over there.

There are more, but it’s to be expected as it’s a much bigger country. There should be a few research assistant positions advertised on www.jobs.ac.uk.

ancapailldorcha

djpbarry wrote: »

There are more, but it’s to be expected as it’s a much bigger country. There should be a few research assistant positions advertised on www.jobs.ac.uk.

This man speaks the truth, though be aware there'll still be fierce competition.

Socorro

opinion guy wrote: »

Can you get a sponsored/funded masters in the UK or something?

Don't think theres much funding for masters around, especially not at this late stage. Something I should've looked into earlier!

djpbarry wrote: »

There are more, but it’s to be expected as it’s a much bigger country. There should be a few research assistant positions advertised on www.jobs.ac.uk.

Thanks for the link, I'll have a look!

djpbarry

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

This man speaks the truth, though be aware there'll still be fierce competition.

There may well be. There might be more vacancies in the UK, but I suspect there may also be more applicants per vacancy.

Socorro

Another question - do these kinds of positions generally come up at different times during the year? Or will there be more advertised around say, September or January?

NOELER

http://prospects.ac.uk/
http://www.findamasters.com/search/courses.aspx?keywords=neuroscience