PI: Principal/Primary Investigator: Head of the lab, often a tenure-track professor – sets the overall direction of the lab, provides mentorship (often high-level), brings in $ (by writing grants typically), gives talks, etc.

Undergraduate students (”undergrads”): Roles vary dramatically depending on the lab & institution–try to find one where you’re not just washing dishes! You’ll have better luck typically at an undergrad-focused institution (PUI).

Graduate (”grad”) students: The hard-working heart of many a lab, often found at the bench (potentially with the mentorship of postdocs). They may be rotation students (trying out the lab before committing) or committed PhD students there for typically 5 or so years).

“Postdocs” (postdoctoral researchers/fellows/scholars): Researchers who got their PhD already (usually from a different lab) and are now hoping to gain new skills, learn new subfields, get more experience, and/or kill time while job-searching; They often have several projects, and mentor students; Their actual title might depend on funding source, but “postdoc” covers them all!

Senior scientists & staff researchers: Kinda like permanent postdocs (sometimes postdocs transition into them) but they get paid a bit more & may be managing groups.

Research technicians & assistants, junior scientists: They typically do work that’s assigned to them (sometimes the more repetitive work, especially with “tech” positions), rather than designing their own experiments (though it varies greatly lab-to-lab and depending on level of experience); Often starting as entry-level positions (post-BS or MS), they’re great opportunities to get more research experience before applying to grad school (or testing out whether grad school might be right for you); they can also often “escalate” into more well-paying positions.

Lab managers: Make sure lab is well-stocked, guidelines-compliant, & running smoothly; deal with many hassles the researchers (especially us introverts) hope to avoid…

Core facilities managers & staff: Equipment/technique specialists who manage, run, & advise users of core facilities (sequencing centers, etc.). More on those here: https://youtu.be/Ab7VHZ2U3OM

Maintenance & facilities workers: Often undervalued, but so important! THANK YOU!

And many many more!

Speaking of more, here’s much more on grad school, postdocs, and all sorts of stuff: https://bit.ly/gradpostdocetc