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Date: 04/03/2025

Biochemists and Biophysicists

Study the chemical composition or physical principles of living cells and organisms, their electrical and mechanical energy, and related phenomena. May conduct research to further understanding of the complex chemical combinations and reactions involved in metabolism, reproduction, growth, and heredity. May determine the effects of foods, drugs, serums, hormones, and other substances on tissues and vital processes of living organisms.

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    Work Activities

    Work Activities

    • Share research findings by writing scientific articles or by making presentations at scientific conferences.
    • Determine the three-dimensional structure of biological macromolecules.
    • Prepare reports or recommendations, based upon research outcomes.
    • Write grant proposals to obtain funding for research.
    • Design or perform experiments with equipment, such as lasers, accelerators, or mass spectrometers.
    • Isolate, analyze, or synthesize vitamins, hormones, allergens, minerals, or enzymes and determine their effects on body functions.
    • Manage laboratory teams or monitor the quality of a team's work.
    • Examine the molecular or chemical aspects of immune system functioning.
    • Prepare pharmaceutical compounds for commercial distribution.
    • Study the mutations in organisms that lead to cancer or other diseases.
    • Develop new methods to study the mechanisms of biological processes.
    • Investigate the nature, composition, or expression of genes or research how genetic engineering can impact these processes.
    • Design or build laboratory equipment needed for special research projects.
    • Research transformations of substances in cells, using atomic isotopes.
    • Produce pharmaceutically or industrially useful proteins, using recombinant DNA technology.
    • Develop or test new drugs or medications intended for commercial distribution.
    • Study the chemistry of living processes, such as cell development, breathing and digestion, or living energy changes, such as growth, aging, or death.
    • Develop methods to process, store, or use foods, drugs, or chemical compounds.
    • Study spatial configurations of submicroscopic molecules, such as proteins, using x-rays or electron microscopes.
    • Research how characteristics of plants or animals are carried through successive generations.
    • Teach or advise undergraduate or graduate students or supervise their research.
    • Develop or execute tests to detect diseases, genetic disorders, or other abnormalities.
    • Study physical principles of living cells or organisms and their electrical or mechanical energy, applying methods and knowledge of mathematics, physics, chemistry, or biology.
    • Research the chemical effects of substances, such as drugs, serums, hormones, or food, on tissues or vital processes.
    • Develop or execute tests to detect diseases, genetic disorders, or other abnormalities.

    Skills

    • Programming

      Writing computer programs.

    • Troubleshooting

      Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.

    • Active Listening

      Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

    • Persuasion

      Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

    • Critical Thinking

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    • Writing

      Writing things for co-workers or customers.

    • Management of Financial Resources

      Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

    • Judgment and Decision Making

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

    • Instructing

      Teaching people how to do something.

    • Learning Strategies

      Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Repairing

      Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.

    • Management of Material Resources

      Managing equipment and materials.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Operation and Control

      Using equipment or systems.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • Operations Monitoring

      Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

    • Systems Analysis

      Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • Coordination

      Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

    • Operations Analysis

      Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

    • Complex Problem Solving

      Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    • Equipment Selection

      Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

    • Installation

      Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

    • Service Orientation

      Looking for ways to help people.

    • Time Management

      Managing your time and the time of other people.

    • Monitoring

      Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Systems Evaluation

      Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    6
    Workplace Documents
    6
    Graphic Literacy
    5

    Abilities

    • Flexibility of Closure

      Seeing hidden patterns.

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Gross Body Equilibrium

      Keeping your balance or staying upright.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Time Sharing

      Doing two or more things at the same time.

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    • Perceptual Speed

      Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • Rate Control

      Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    • Dynamic Flexibility

      Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Reaction Time

      Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.

    • Wrist-Finger Speed

      Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.

    • Response Orientation

      Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

    • Gross Body Coordination

      Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Hearing Sensitivity

      Telling the difference between sounds.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Extent Flexibility

      Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    • Inductive Reasoning

      Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

    • Information Ordering

      Ordering or arranging things.

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Auditory Attention

      Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    • Speech Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Peripheral Vision

      Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

    • Control Precision

      Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

    • Multilimb Coordination

      Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    • Visualization

      Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

    • Depth Perception

      Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Glare Sensitivity

      Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    Knowledge

    • Telecommunications

      Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

    • Foreign Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    • Transportation

      Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    • Production and Processing

      Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

    • Sales and Marketing

      Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

    • English Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

    • Administrative

      Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    • Education and Training

      Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

    • Computers and Electronics

      Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    • Chemistry

      Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

    • Philosophy and Theology

      Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

    • Communications and Media

      Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    • History and Archeology

      Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    • Administration and Management

      Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    • Geography

      Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

    • Personnel and Human Resources

      Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

    • Fine Arts

      Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

    • Food Production

      Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

    • Psychology

      Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

    • Medicine and Dentistry

      Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

    • Mechanical

      Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

    • Public Safety and Security

      Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

    • Therapy and Counseling

      Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

    • Mathematics

      Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    • Customer and Personal Service

      Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    • Law and Government

      Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    • Design

      Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    • Economics and Accounting

      Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

    • Engineering and Technology

      Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

    • Biology

      Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    • Physics

      Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

    • Building and Construction

      Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

    Career Video

    Additional videos and more information available on CareerOneStop

    Pay

    • Ohio Annual Salary 80630/yr
    • Typical Salary
    • Ohio Hourly Wage 38.77/hr
    • Typical Hourly Wage

    Ohio Employment Trends

    • Currently Employed 290
    • Yearly Projected Openings 20

    Typical Education

    Personality

    Investigative: People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.They do well at jobs that need:
    • Integrity
    • Analytical Thinking
    • Persistence
    • Attention to Detail
    • Achievement/Effort
    • Dependability

    Tools

    • Amino acid analyzers
    • Analytical balances
    • Benchtop centrifuges
    • Binocular light compound microscopes
    • Calorimeters
    • Camera controllers
    • Chemistry analyzers
    • Chilling units or cold water circulators
    • Cryogenic or liquid nitrogen freezers
    • Deoxyribonucleic sequence analyzers
    • Desktop computers
    • Digital camcorders or video cameras
    • Dropping pipettes
    • Dry baths or heating blocks
    • Dry wall single chamber carbon dioxide incubators
    • Electroencephalograph EEGs
    • Electron guns
    • Electron microscopes
    • Electronic toploading balances
    • Electrophoresis system power supplies
    • Flame ionization analyzers
    • Forced air or mechanical convection general purpose incubators
    • Freeze dryers or lyopholizers
    • Fume hoods or cupboards
    • Gamma counters
    • Gas chromatographs
    • Gel boxes
    • Gel documentation systems
    • Heat tracing equipment
    • Heating mantles or tapes
    • Hematology or chemistry mixers
    • High pressure liquid chromatograph chromatography
    • Homogenizers
    • Infrared spectrometers
    • Injectors
    • Instrumentation for capillary electrophoresis
    • Inverted microscopes
    • Ion analyzers
    • Irradiation gamma sources
    • Laboratory adapters or connectors or fittings
    • Laboratory balances
    • Laboratory beakers
    • Laboratory flasks
    • Laboratory funnels
    • Laboratory graduated cylinders
    • Laboratory heat exchange condensers
    • Laboratory hotplates
    • Laboratory mechanical convection ovens
    • Laboratory vacuum pumps
    • Laminar flow cabinets or stations
    • Laser printers
    • Lasers
    • Light scattering equipment
    • Liquid scintillation counters
    • Mainframe computers
    • Manual or electronic hematology differential cell counters
    • Mass spectrometers
    • Medical computed tomography CT or CAT scanners or tubes
    • Medical imaging wet darkroom or daylight processors
    • Medical magnetic resonance imaging MRI scanners
    • Medical positron emission tomography PET units
    • Medical radiation dosimeters
    • Medical x ray darkroom accessories
    • Microbiology analyzers
    • Microcentrifuges
    • Microplate readers
    • Microscope slides
    • Microtomes
    • Mobile or transportable medical linear accelerators
    • Multipurpose or general test tubes
    • Notebook computers
    • Nuclear magnetic resonance NMR spectrometers
    • Optical beamsplitters
    • Orbital shakers
    • Orbital shaking water baths
    • Osmometers
    • Paramagnetic susceptibility analyzers
    • Pasteur or transfer pipettes
    • Personal computers
    • Photo attachments for microscopes
    • Piezo electric crystals
    • Plotter printers
    • Polarimeters
    • Polarizing microscopes
    • Pressure indicators
    • Protective hood
    • Protein analyzers
    • Reactors or fermenters or digesters
    • Refrigerated and heated reach in environmental or growth chambers
    • Refrigerated benchtop centrifuges
    • Rheometers
    • Robotic or automated liquid handling systems
    • Scanners
    • Scanning electron microscopes
    • Scanning light or spinning disk or laser scanning microscopes
    • Scanning probe microscopes
    • Shaking incubators
    • Signal conditioners
    • Signal generators
    • Spectrofluorimeters or fluorimeters
    • Spectrometers
    • Spectrophotometers
    • Standard fermentation units
    • Steam autoclaves or sterilizers
    • Tissue processors
    • Transilluminators
    • Transmission electron microscopes
    • Tweezers
    • Ultra violet water purification units
    • Ultracentrifuges
    • Ultrasonic cleaning equipment
    • Ultrasonic disintegrators
    • Vacuum or centrifugal concentrators
    • Viscosimeters
    • Water baths
    • X ray diffraction equipment
    • X ray generators
    • pH meters

    Technology

    • Analytical or scientific software
    • Computer aided design CAD software
    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Data mining software
    • Electronic mail software
    • Enterprise application integration software
    • Enterprise resource planning ERP software
    • Geographic information system
    • Graphics or photo imaging software
    • Information retrieval or search software
    • Internet browser software
    • Inventory management software
    • Object or component oriented development software
    • Office suite software
    • Operating system software
    • Presentation software
    • Process mapping and design software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Word processing software
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