Information and guidance for young people aged 13-19
BIO-TECH
This sector is driven by a growing and aging population, an increase
in chronic (long term) diseases and the fact that people are living
longer. It’s all about scientific discovery and advanced technology
which makes for some very exciting and rewarding roles: imagine
developing a drug to cure a disease or helping someone to live a more
fulfilling life following an accident... you could make a real difference!
What is happening?
Skills & qualities
• Biotech is a key driver in the UK economy with
thousands of new jobs to be created over the next
few years.
• Priority sector for Suffolk, home to state-of-theart laboratories at University Campus Suffolk;
the largest Centre for Environment, Fisheries and
Aquaculture Science in the UK; The National Stud;
and many biotech companies specializing in stem cell
research and regenerative medicine.
• Three main areas: pharmacology (drugs and
chemistry), med tech (hi-tech equipment) and
biotech (microbiology ).
• Food and energy security, healthy ageing and living
with environmental change are important issues
globally and highly skilled researchers are needed to
tackle these issues.
• Bioinformatics – connecting computing, biology
and medicine – is one of the fastest growing areas of
research and development.
• Roles in demand include intellectual
property, microbiologist, antimicrobial
resistance researcher.
• Many companies are small businesses
with clusters in cities across the UK.
• Higher Level Apprenticeships in life
sciences means there is an alternative
route to university into technician roles.
On the web
www.futuremorph.org
www.rsb.org.uk
www.microbiologysociety.org
Useful subjects
Retail jobs include...
Local employers
• Nestor
• University
Pharmaceuticals
Campus Suffolk
• Animal Health
Trust
• The National
Stud
• Genzyme
What could you earn?*
Lab technician
£21,900
Biological scientist
£38,100
Research professional
£39,400
Design and development
engineer
£38,500
Pharmacist
£41,500
* Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2014.
Average full-time (median) salary rounded to the nearest £100. Doesn’t include self employed
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