What Types of Careers in Life Sciences are there?

Wondering if your degree in life sciences will lead to a lifelong career? Read more about jobs in your field, below.

If you have newly graduated from college or university in the field of life sciences, you may wonder what job opportunities are available to you. Similarly, if you are considering a university degree in this field but want to study the possibilities for future roles first, then please read on. We collated a list of all the types of jobs you might be capable of if you graduate in a life science. You never know, we just might introduce you to your dream career.

What are the Types of Life Sciences?

Before we go any further, it’s important that we understand how wide a scope careers in life sciences have. To do this, we must turn to the types of study that fall under this umbrella term. Life sciences are all the areas of science which apply to living things. That includes plant life, animal life, and human life.

Some popular types of life science include:

• Biology –cellular, micro, and molecular
• Ecology
• Evolution
• Zoology
• Botany
• Genetics
• Physiology

This is by no means a complete list. Life science subjects also cover agriculture, anatomy and morphology, entomology, forestry, environmental studies, biochemistry, and biotechnology, and lots more topics.

What Types of Career in Life Sciences are there?

With so much scope for fields of study and areas of expertise, you can understand why there are so many types of life science jobs. There are a choice of roles within each area of study. You might work in NHS laboratories as a biochemist, or in drug development positions. You could study diseases and cure the sick. You might work on vaccinations for viruses like Covid or the flu.

Within the scope of zoology, you might take care of or study wild animals. You could work in developing antivenoms for zoos, you might study new creatures found at the bottom of the sea as a marine biologist. You could develop animal specific nutrition supplements, or work in laboratories process foot and mouth cases.

If you choose a career in genetics, you might work on hereditary diseases. You could develop methods of testing for signs of disease in babies before thy are born. A geneticist might help slow the progression of disorders or research new solutions for old illnesses.

A career in botany could see you placed in a tropical garden somewhere, tending plants that shouldn’t grow in that climate. We’ve spotted botanists trying to grow plants on the moon, prowling jungles looking for uncharted species, and growing long-dead prehistoric plants discovered trapped in the melting ice plains of the north.

A Career in Life Sciences is Exciting

One thing is for sure, that a career in the life sciences will always be an adventure. Every day will be different, and you will see some of the more remarkable aspects of biological life on this planet. Not everyone gets to do that on their day job.