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Researcher

 

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Researcher



 
 
A researcher is someone who is professionally engaged in research
Research

Research is defined as human activity based on intellectual application in the investigation of matter. The primary purpose for applied research is discovery , interpretation , and the development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a wide variety of scientific matters of our world and the universe....
. This is often scientific research, technological research or engineering research
Engineering research

Engineering research seeks improvements in theory and practice in fields such as high-speed computation, earthquake prediction, power systems and construction....
. There are also researchers involved in cultural
Culture

Culture is difficult to define. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions....
, historical
HIStory

HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I is a double album by Michael Jackson, released on June 20, 1995, and is Jackson's ninth. The first disc, named "HIStory Begins" consists of a selection of Jackson's greatest hits from the singer's past fifteen years, while the second, named "HIStory Continues" features new songs, with the...
 and sociological research.

There are academic, industrial and government or private institution researchers. For example, at some academic institutions, professor
Professor

The meaning of the word professor varies. In some English-speaking countries, it refers to a senior academic who holds a departmental chair, especially as head of the Academic department, or a personal chair awarded specifically to that individual....
s may be differentiated as either "teaching professors" or "research professors".

In general, every country has its own large national research centers with different research and development (R&D) profiles.






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Encyclopedia


A researcher is someone who is professionally engaged in research
Research

Research is defined as human activity based on intellectual application in the investigation of matter. The primary purpose for applied research is discovery , interpretation , and the development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a wide variety of scientific matters of our world and the universe....
. This is often scientific research, technological research or engineering research
Engineering research

Engineering research seeks improvements in theory and practice in fields such as high-speed computation, earthquake prediction, power systems and construction....
. There are also researchers involved in cultural
Culture

Culture is difficult to define. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions....
, historical
HIStory

HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I is a double album by Michael Jackson, released on June 20, 1995, and is Jackson's ninth. The first disc, named "HIStory Begins" consists of a selection of Jackson's greatest hits from the singer's past fifteen years, while the second, named "HIStory Continues" features new songs, with the...
 and sociological research.

There are academic, industrial and government or private institution researchers. For example, at some academic institutions, professor
Professor

The meaning of the word professor varies. In some English-speaking countries, it refers to a senior academic who holds a departmental chair, especially as head of the Academic department, or a personal chair awarded specifically to that individual....
s may be differentiated as either "teaching professors" or "research professors".

In general, every country has its own large national research centers with different research and development (R&D) profiles. They employ numerous researchers.

Researchers work not for students but for well defined short-term, middle-term and long-term R&D or RTD (Research and Technology Development) projects defined in the frame of the strategy of their organizations.

There are numerous necessary specializations of researchers, but in large research business institutions, interdisciplinary profiles of researchers are always more frequently requested. They have to adapt to new objectives and to cope with before unknown for them, systems, equipments and problems. Therefore, one of their important tasks is to cooperate with academic researchers and professors.

For the above reasons, the positions and the research work conditions of researchers in research or technological laboratories are different than in academic institutions.

Main positions


The positions of researchers in large research centers/institutes have many specific names, but usually they are divided on three basic levels equivalent to: junior researcher, researcher, senior researcher.

Research work conditions


The research activity is organized according to the specific company structure. Usually every researcher works in so called matrix structure, he/she is a member of a laboratory or other specialized unit, and in parallel temporally participates in one of more projects.

Many important scientific results of the industrial and military researchers' work are not published because they have either confidential or secret character. At a consequence, many valid scientists became slowly a “property” of companies.

Some references

  • NASA Ames Research Center
    NASA Ames Research Center

    NASA Ames Research Center is a NASA facility located at Moffett Federal Airfield, which covers at the borders of the cities of Mountain View, California and Sunnyvale, California in California....
  • US National Center for Atmospheric Research
    National Center for Atmospheric Research

    The National Center for Atmospheric Research is a non-governmental United States-based institute whose stated mission is "exploring and understanding our atmosphere and its interactions with the Sun, the oceans, the biosphere, and human society."...
  • US National Institute of Mental Health
    National Institute of Mental Health

    The National Institute of Mental Health is part of the federal government of the United States and the largest research organization in the world specializing in mental illness....
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory
    Los Alamos National Laboratory

    Los Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy United States Department of Energy National Labs, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico....
     (LANL)
  • Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
  • Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
    Joint Institute for Nuclear Research

    The Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, JINR in Dubna, Moscow Oblast , Russia is an international research centre for nuclear sciences, involving around 5500 staff members, 1200 researchers including 1000 Ph.D.s from eighteen member states as well as some eminent and well-known scientists from UNESCO, CERN, CLAF, France, Germany, Italy,...
    , Russia
  • Joint Research Centres of European Commission


See also

  • Research
    Research

    Research is defined as human activity based on intellectual application in the investigation of matter. The primary purpose for applied research is discovery , interpretation , and the development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a wide variety of scientific matters of our world and the universe....
  • Science
    Science

    In its broadest sense, science refers to any systematic knowledge or practice. In its more usual restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on scientific method, as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research....
  • Employer
  • Professions
  • Human resources
    Human resources

    Human resources is a term with which organizations describe the combination of traditionally administrative personnel functions with performance, Employee Relations and Resource planning....
  • research assistant
    Research assistant

    A Research Assistant is a junior graduate student scholar, employed on a temporary contract by a college or university or a non-university research institution, for the purpose of academic research....
  • research associate
    Research associate

    The title of research associate is used to denote a research position in universities or industrial companies. While some organizations use the title research associate for researchers who hold a bachelor or master degree, most research associates in prestigious universities hold a doctoral degree, and the title is considered a "step-up" from a pos...
  • research supervisor
    Research supervisor

    A research supervisor is responsible for the general oversight of an academic research project.Research Associates liaise with their research supervisor on a regular basis to advise him or her on the research status and receive any guidelines....
  • Postdoctoral researcher
    Postdoctoral researcher

    A postdoctoral scholar is a temporary research position held by a person who has completed his or her Doctorate studies. Postdoctoral positions commonly last for periods ranging between six months and five years, and have traditionally been dedicated purely to research; however, so-called "teaching post-docs" are now being offered for those...