Traditional academic science focuses on laboratory research to gather new knowledge and on teaching to impart that scientific knowledge to future generations.  Whether a person working in academia spends more time with research, teaching, or administration is a matter of personal preferences and skills.

Perhaps you are someone who loves science, exploring, and being creative, but learned the hard way that science research is not your dream job.  Maybe you were considering working in industry, but prefer to work with children than adults.  In both of these circumstances, science education provides a unique opportunity to connect your science background and enthusiasm with the needs of the community.

Industrial science encompasses a variety of careers in which people work for scientific, government, or private institutions conducting research or manufacturing goods and services.  Agricultural and biological sciences, information and communication technology, and mining and mineral explorations are just a few of the many industrial science fields.  Each industrial science field has its own set of job requirements, expectations and, most importantly, required skills and knowledge.

Have you been hearing about the NSA or FBI on the news lately? Or how about the CIA, NASA, and FDA?  This alphabet soup of government agencies appears in the news often, as they are responsible for the well-being, safety and happiness of United States citizens.  These agencies, along with other departments and branches of government take care of homeland security, the environment, health issues and many other basic concerns of the country.  In order to ensure that these agencies can handle a wide variety of problems, they employ many professionals to take care of administrative research duties.  Science positions are especially important because the federal government depends on the latest technological and scientific developments to keep the country at its peak performance in serving its citizens and in international relations.

Raymond V. Gilmartin is the former Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Merck & Co., Inc., a global research-driven pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets innovative vaccines and medicines. In July 2006, he joined the faculty at the Harvard Business School as Professor of Management Practice teaching in the MBA program.

Known to medical students worldwide as the author of Robbins Pathology and also as an authority in Natural Killer (NK) Cells, Dr. Vinay Kumar is presently the Alice Hogge & Arthur Baer Professor of Pathology at the University of Chicago, where he is the Chair of the Department of Pathology and Executive Vice Dean of the Division of Biological Sciences. Following is the transcript of the recorded interview and we sincerely hope you will learn from Dr. Kumar’s experiences.

Careers in pharmaceuticals are research-intensive, focusing on creating effective drugs for treating diseases. Careers in healthcare involve not only researching, but also administering treatments. Environmental health scientists, epidemiologists, biostatisticians and, of course, public health practitioners are all examples of healthcare workers.

 Author: Anshul Tandon

Careers in pharmaceuticals are research-intensive, focusing on creating effective drugs for treating diseases. Careers in healthcare involve not only researching, but also administering treatments. Environmental health scientists, epidemiologists, biostatisticians and, of course, public health practitioners are all examples of healthcare workers.

With a career in scientific or engineering research it is very likely that you will run across classified materials. There are different types of classified materials which may enter and affect your career. The three forms of classified materials are: Department of Defense (DOD), proprietary concerns, and patents. Thus it is possible that in any work field, your research or project can also be classified if you are working with any of the above mentioned materials.

The federal government is America’s largest employer. Approximately 1.8 million people are employed by the government. As a student of the sciences, whether it be computer science, biological sciences, or the physical sciences, there are a large number of job openings in a number of different agencies. For all you astronomers and engineers, perhaps NASA may be the place for you and for all you environmental scientists there may be a future career at the EPA. For those interested in medicine and the biological sciences, the National Institutes of Health may be the right fit. These are just a few of the federal agencies that you may be able to work for.

Just like all the programs and agencies that make up government, the pay scale is very defined and categorized.  At first, however, pay grades, levels, and steps, may seem confusing since these terms are generally not used in describing pay scales in industry.But in actuality, the federal pay scale is not very complicated.

Many students of the life sciences choose to continue their education; however getting admitted to a graduate program can seem hopeless and frustrating.  Graduate programs can receive a large number of applications, but they can only extend offers to a limited number of students.  So, you may ask, how can I ensure an acceptance into a graduate program when it seems that all odds are stacked against me?

In a scene from the popular television show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, two forensic scientists carefully crawl across the floor of a dark room. Their tiny flashlights leave little pools of light on the floor as the scientists search for clues. After watching the scene, forensic scientist, real-life Max Houck, declares: “They always use flashlights. I don’t know why. I always turn on the lights.”

Online “trolls,” have long perfected the art of provoking fellow readers with their over-the-top, annoying and illogical comments, but as harmless as they may often seem, these online hecklers are negatively impacting the way other readers are viewing science and technology.

Government agencies and private institutions of all kinds have many uses for satellites. Satellites are used for communications, earth observations, and space exploration just to name a few of their many applications. Such technology, however, is restricted to those institutions that can afford the expensive costs of building, launching, and maintaining satellites.

In addition to conducting award-winning research on the new field of personalized medicine, Dr. Ginsburg is a founder of the Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC), a non-profit group that is working to promote the benefits of personalized medicine. In December 2006, Dr. Ginsburg joined VisEn's Medical Scientific Advisory Board.

Maybe it was a good book on some fascinating phenomena. Perhaps it was a starry night or visit to a zoo. Perhaps, it was the chemistry teacher you had in high school. Often, those with an interest in science can point to some influencing factors or moments that triggered their pursuit of scientific knowledge. In the process, like a child having just read their first book, many scientists-in-training feel an inexplicable urge to share what they have gathered. But is it possible to take both courses, to teach and to “do” science? Or are they separate branches from the same tree, roads diverging at the point where research and education take separate paths?

Those who dislike broccoli may want to reevaluate their vegetables of choice, thanks to an article published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Already known for its cancer prevention properties, DIM (3,3'-diindolylmethane), a compound found in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, was found to protect rodents against the deadly effects associated with heavy doses of radiation.