A Graduate (Ph.D.) Research is required in order to work as a researcher in
public or private institutions. The Ph.D. can be taken on completion of a relevant
bachelor/undergraduate degree.
Typical Work Activities
The candidate will normally join a laboratory or be involved in developing
a new one. He/she will have gained competency in the area of laboratory work
and scientific studies through the bachelor/undergraduate degree programme.
A PhD involves definitions of hypotheses, literature research and the setting-up
of experiments to test hypotheses. Laboratory work can be team based with many
PhD students working on related topics. A scientific report or paper is published
with the specific conclusions to the problem or hypothesis tested by the PhD
student/team. The results will be publicised in national or international meetings
by means of poster or oral presentations.
Work conditions
Range of typical starting salaries:
€12,000 – €18,000 depending on the country
Range of typical management salaries
€45,000 – €80,000
Working hours
9h am to 17h pm, but this depends also on the country. In addition, these
hours may be a mean range, as the experiments may eventually have to be carried
out at any hour of day or night. Your work schedule may be irregular when
working on literature reviews or when writing reports.
Mobility in industry
In the private sector, mobility may be higher than in the public sector
(universities or research centres). Mobility is also dependent on the country.
Permanent or temporary work available
The public sector provides a number of permanent jobs in universities
and research centres. The private sector relies more often on use of temporary
staff contracts. The larger the company, the better the possibilities of having
a sound research structure and therefore a number of permanent positions to
maintain its activity.
Normally a Ph.D. is required for a research position.
A bachelor degree is required when a research-training job is offered.
A relevant degree in the following subjects is essential
For a research position
in aquaculture-related work, many different degrees may be suitable: biochemistry,
physiology, zoology, ecology, veterinary, engineering or economics. For an
industry related job, a degree in fisheries, marine biology, aquatic sciences
or a related field is required.
Typical years of study
4 years for bachelor degree and 4 years for the Ph.D.
Research training is normally undertaken at Universities. The majority of researchers
are young people following the research training track, consisting of specific
courses followed by some years of experimental work on a defined research topic.
There are grants offered by regional, national and international agencies during
this time.
A number of graduates working in the industry may join a research institute
or university to obtain a PhD degree. This is becoming common in universities,
in order to make it easier for following the professional postgraduate training
and doctoral processes. The company where these persons are working may help
him/her in terms of grant aid, or by granting them time or facilities for their
research work.
Interested individuals in a research career should contact:
Universities
Research Councils or equivalent bodies
Ministry of Education
Ministry of Research and Technology
European Union
Cordis (EU information network)
Specific Research Institutes (for instance, the Institute of Aquaculture
of Stirling, UK; INRA, France; Inst. Marine Biology of Crete, Greece)
There are several Institutions around the world that provide contacts with aquaculture
researchers. Next is an example from a Canadian national body
http://www.aquanet.mun.ca/directory/main
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