The Datum Report

Occupation 2162 · Professional occupations

Other researchers, unspecified discipline

Half of full-time other researchers, unspecified discipline in the UK earn more than £44,580 a year, and half earn less.

Other researchers, unspecified discipline perform research activities across a variety of disciplines for academic purposes or to provide the systematic investigation necessary for the development of new products and services, or to enhance the performance of existing ones.

How people enter it

Entrants usually possess a relevant degree or equivalent qualification, although postgraduate qualifications may be required for some jobs. Training is usually provided on-the-job.

What the work involves

• plans, directs and undertakes research into areas of academic interest or commercial importance to their organisation
• designs tests and experiments to address research objective and find solutions
• applies models and techniques to medical, industrial, agricultural, military and similar applications
• analyses results and writes up results of tests and experiments undertaken
• presents results of scientific research to sponsors, addresses conferences and publishes articles outlining the methodology and results of research undertaken
• designs and develops an appropriate research methodology in order to address the research objective
• compiles and analyses quantitative and qualitative data, prepares reports and presents results to summarise main findings and conclusions
• advises government, private organisations and special interest groups on policy issues

Also called

Postdoctoral researcher · Research assistant (university) · Research fellow (university) · University researcher

What it pays

How pay has changed

Median gross annual pay for other researchers, unspecified discipline, full-time employees, 2023 to 2025. Each point is that year's ASHE April snapshot as published — revisions are not backfilled into earlier years, and a year ONS withheld is a gap rather than a joined line.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Year-on-year change

The change from each year to the next, in per cent, computed from the figures in the chart above — so the two cannot disagree.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Pay by region

Median gross annual pay for full-time employees, ranked, against the UK figure. 2 of 11 regions are published: ONS withholds a cell where the survey sample cannot support it, and those are shown as gaps rather than dropped — an absent region is not a region without the work in it.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Period 2025. Table

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Common questions

Classified alongside this

Research and development (r&d) managers