Biochemistry is an interdisciplinary field that combines elements of biology and chemistry. As a result, the possibilities for biochemistry jobs are diverse and span a variety of fields. As a result, some biochemistry jobs may be advertised under the names of other fields or disciplines. Biochemical jobs, such as vaccine research, may appear as biomedical jobs. Hormone production, virology or immunology studies; food science jobs ranging from quality control to nutritional analysis; plant science jobs spanning forestry to horticulture; or zoology jobs spanning marine biology to entomology
Community college graduates with a biochemistry degree can work as technicians in research laboratories, completing tasks that free up the researchers’ time to focus on other things. Hospitals, public health facilities, and biomedical research laboratories may employ them.
Biochemistry graduates with a bachelor’s degree have more options. Health care, law, biotechnology, pharmacology, biochemical engineering, toxicology, animal science, teaching, and food science are some of the fields in which they can work. All of these job opportunities are available with a master’s degree, as well as some that may arise from specialized master’s programs that focus on material not covered in undergraduate programs, such as focused study of bioinformatics or computational biology. A master’s degree holder may also be given preference in the hiring process.
A wide range of employers offer biochemistry jobs to candidates with a bachelor’s or master’s degree. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Institute of Health (NIH), the United States Department of Agriculture, and the United States Food and Drug Administration all employ biochemists (FDA). Pharmaceutical companies, K-12 schools, and biotechnology companies are all possible employers if the candidate has a teaching degree. Biochemists are employed law enforcement agencies ranging from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to state forensics laboratories to private laboratories.
The Ph.D. degree qualifies its holder to direct biochemical research programs, teach biochemistry at a college or university level, or hold an executive position in their field in government or industry. Doctoral-level biochemists frequently combine teaching and research.