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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

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

    Skills

    • Coordination

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

    • Time Management

      Managing your time and the time of other people.

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • 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.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Equipment Selection

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

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    • Complex Problem Solving

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

    • Repairing

      Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    • Active Listening

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

    • Operations Analysis

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

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    • Learning Strategies

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

    • Service Orientation

      Looking for ways to help people.

    • Installation

      Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

    • Systems Evaluation

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

    • Critical Thinking

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

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    • Operation and Control

      Using equipment or systems.

    • Monitoring

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

    • Troubleshooting

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

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    • Programming

      Writing computer programs.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Persuasion

      Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

    • Operations Monitoring

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

    • Management of Financial Resources

      Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

    • Writing

      Writing things for co-workers or customers.

    • Management of Material Resources

      Managing equipment and materials.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Systems Analysis

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

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    6
    Workplace Documents
    6
    Graphic Literacy
    5

    Abilities

    • Inductive Reasoning

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

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Extent Flexibility

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

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Flexibility of Closure

      Seeing hidden patterns.

    • Gross Body Equilibrium

      Keeping your balance or staying upright.

    • Depth Perception

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

    • 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.

    • Rate Control

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

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    • 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.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Time Sharing

      Doing two or more things at the same time.

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Response Orientation

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

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    • Peripheral Vision

      Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

    • Auditory Attention

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

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    • Perceptual Speed

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

    • Visualization

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

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Dynamic Flexibility

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

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    • Glare Sensitivity

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

    • Hearing Sensitivity

      Telling the difference between sounds.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    • Information Ordering

      Ordering or arranging things.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Gross Body Coordination

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

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Speech Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    Knowledge

    • 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.

    • Telecommunications

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

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • Mathematics

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

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • Fine Arts

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

    • History and Archeology

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

    • 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.

    • English Language

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

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • Computers and Electronics

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

    • 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.

    • Design

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

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • Production and Processing

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

    • Food Production

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

    • Mechanical

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

    • Economics and Accounting

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

    • 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.

    • Law and Government

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

    • 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.

    • Biology

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

    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 90
    • Yearly Projected Openings 10

    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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    Workforce Supply Tool

    Workforce Supply Tool

    The Workforce Supply Tool provides statistics for the occupations in highest demand throughout Ohio.

    You can view statewide statistics as well as more region specific information.

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