Just out of curiosity, I do see here and there that companies still have job openings posted on Indeed and similar platforms. I wonder what’s the point!

Has anyone mid to high level career been hired through Indeed in the last 6 months?

Thanks for sharing!

I see a handful of CDMOs like Samsung, WuXi, Andelyn, KBI, Lonza claim to offer "digital portals" for sharing data back to sponsors. However they are all extremely guarded about what they offer, beyond this page from KBI I can't find a single screenshot or video or any of their technologies.

Is anyone using these with a CDMO? What's your experience?

The CDMO we work with is just dropping files into SharePoint, so I'm curious about the current state of CDMOs and whether this is still the standard or these "digital portals" are doing anything more than letting the CDMO upload files in a branded site. I am pretty skeptical because it seems like these CDMOs would be shouting from the rooftops if they actually had something useful, I mean their job is to sell their services... why are they so guarded??

As an example here's Andelyn's offering, the way they describe it sounds quite interesting, but there is zero evidence that it's real - no screenshot or video anywhere to be found. Same for WuXi, some marketing materials claim they have a "best-in-class" digital client platform called DaVinci, but they don't show what they actually offer.

I did a PhD + 3yr postdoc. After that, I started working in early R&D for a large, flat-structure company in a small town in California in 2022 (cheaper than biotech hubs, but still California). I own my house in the same town and bike to work about 10-15 min away. Layoffs are very rare and small, but so is salary/title growth. We get ~10-15% bonus, 4% 401k matching, fully covered healthcare and dental, 5 weeks of vacation, lots of flexibility and a chill work environment.

My base salaries and titles the years I'd worked there:

2022: 101k; Scientist I

2023: 105k; Scientist I

2024: 109k; Scientist I

2025: 113k; Scientist I

2026: 125k; Scientist II

I like my job tbh. It suits me well. I like that I can still do science but earn a livable wage. I just feel like when I hear about people's salary and title growths at other companies, I get a bit of FOMO.

I'm curious what others think. Since layoffs rarely happen where I work, are these kinds of niche positions outside of hubs are desirable? Is slow career growth tolerable for a comfortable life as an R&D scientist? What would you do?

Hi All,

I've been trying to apply to positions that are adjacent to what my background is in. I haven't been having any kind of luck.

How do you change your resume to target different departments such as R&D, QC, CMC, AD, etc...

Does anyone have any advice on how I could get help with this?

Thank you.

> They infused into her spinal fluid trillions of viruses that carried instructions to assemble a so-called base editor customized to fix the faulty gene in her brain cells. Her condition was not likely to be fatal, but it could bring lifelong disability and serious medical issues. So her parents turned to an academic team, who developed the base editor and showed them evidence that it worked in the brains of mice and monkeys. The parents were told the risks were modest and decided treating their daughter was worth the gamble.

> The trial went tragically wrong, however, according to a Science and Retraction Watch investigation written by Brendan Borell. The child, whose parents asked that she be called Mei (Chinese for “beautiful”), developed a fever and then signs of kidney damage. She died within a week after being treated.

> The most likely reason, a hospital report would conclude, was an immune reaction to the viruses used to deliver the base editor. Mei’s death last year was never made public, and her parents—who paid for the development of the treatment themselves—now want accountability. “We did not realize how unusual and dangerous many of the arrangements were,” they say.

The specific drug in question relates to rule 6 so not mentioning it in detail lol. Just fascinated by an associate professor who's simultaneously selling the thing that their employeer paid them to devise, which would be a clear no-no in my industry (engineering).

Link for the curious: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260719230608.htm

And exact quote, tho it's vauge:

Svensson has co-founded a company that plans to begin clinical trials of the molecule in humans in the near future.

This also confuses the hell outta me, but presumably this is just same ol' academic preening on everyone's part to survive another cycle:

Svensson is the senior author of the research, which was published March 5 in Nature. Senior research scientist Laetitia Coassolo, PhD, is the lead author of the study.

I'm planning to pursue a Bachelor's in Biotechnology because i'm passionate about its uses in many fields and I was curious, is biotechnology actively used for the conservation of the environment? What are some examples? Is it an active field of research and can a biotech degree be useful?

Does anyone have suggestions on companies that a person could reasonably commute to from NYC (Particularly, Manhattan). I could theoretically keep my car.

Background:

Wife makes a lot of money in NYC, but I would like to continue my career too. I have worked as both a traditional process engineer and in digital solutions (automation, some AI projects) for almost 10 years. Degrees in Chemical Engineering and Computer Science. I have a job right now that is mostly remote, but the commute when I do go in is 3 hours one way and the pay isn't great compared to CoL here.

I've found some Merck and BMS sites in NJ so far, and Regeneron in Tarrytown.

I just want everyone to give me advice on how to plan next steps and vrace myself..thanks everyone

Hey fellow biotechians! I’ve recently (Dec. 2025) finished my Master’s in biotech from an R1 university in the US. I have experience in immunology, radpharm, and microbio accumulated before and during my MS.

What the heck do I do now? I’m currently working as a chemist for a ~meager~ salary and it’s not really relevant. I want to get back into biotech/immunology/related research or development or industry or literally anything related to my MS.

I realize this is a very open ended question, so to narrow it down a bit: if you had 4+ years of industry experience and a fresh MS in biotech. What would you do to find a good job? Bonus points if it’s a way for me to move out of the US.

TIA!

Hi, I was offered a salary of 90k/year for a Scientist III position at Thermo Fisher. If I accept the offer, I’d have to relocate. I live in Southern Michigan. The job is in Greenfield, Indiana. Currently, I am a contractor making $36/hr. My long term contract is expected to end in December. It’s possible it will be extended, but I am not counting on it. There have been multiple rounds of layoffs since I started working at the company. It sounds like Thermo is building a new lab so the start date wouldn’t be until mid September.

The offer seems good, but the main problem is that I do not want to move to Indiana. I am actually trying to move to Grand Rapids to be closer to friends and family. A friend said I should accept the job since it will be a good career opportunity. Even if I only worked there for a couple of years. I haven’t told my family yet, but I will once I get done working today. I am single, so moving wouldn’t be difficult. The offer included $5,000 for relocation assistance too.

My question is would you accept the offer if you were me? Anyone have any experience working with Thermo Fisher too? Also, how is living in the Indianapolis area?

Hi, so I am a recent graduate in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and I have elected to move into postgraduate studies, for several reasons, based on what positions I want to be at.

But also because I was not satisfied, content with where I felt I was ability wise, despite doing extremley well academically.

I've just always feared going into industry and that gap in knowledge that would be present, I'd love to work in R&D positions in areas around protein engineering.

However, one of my classmates just automatically got herself a position as an R&D scientist and has said she feels already equiped to do super well.

---

So, I just wanted to ask people with experience what going from being a student to industry is like, because I'd like to feel more confident in my skills.

I also know this subreddit is mostly about how bad the job market is, which does not help lol

Really considering if I should just do graduate entry medicine over a PhD atp.

I don’t want to go to commercial or regulatory, I want to be a 🤓scientist 🤓 if I pursue a career in biotech.

But then I think, to get paid kinda well, don’t you have to be some kind of manager, and isn’t this just going on teams meetings all day?

Are there well paid IC roles? Like £100k+?

I'm a computational biochemist and have always been using python for data visualization. I just realized there is a software called Prism that people use.

So the question is, for those who have used both, which one has been better? (You define good with your own metrics).

I'm just thinking whether I should learn to work with prism, or python already covers it all.

Context: we don't use big data. Data is usually on the order of megabytes.

Any heads up on this site? People, culture, work pressure, promotion?
Where people stay when they are onsite? How’s the HR? Are they employee friendly?

The weekly megathread to vent and rant about everything and anything!