Research positions in higher education refer to academic roles dedicated to conducting systematic investigations to expand knowledge in specific fields. These jobs emphasize original discovery, experimentation, and analysis rather than teaching. Meaning, a research position means working on projects funded by grants from bodies like the National Science Foundation (NSF) or private foundations. For instance, researchers might study climate impacts in Pacific islands or develop new materials for technology.
In universities and research institutes, these roles drive innovation. Unlike faculty positions that split time between teaching and research, pure research jobs allow full immersion in lab work, fieldwork, or computational modeling. Globally, demand is high in STEM fields, with over 100,000 such openings annually in the US alone, per recent NSF reports.
Research positions evolved from 19th-century university models in Europe, like Humboldt's ideal of scholarly inquiry at Berlin University. In the US, post-World War II funding booms via NSF (1950) formalized roles like research assistants. Today, they adapt to interdisciplinary challenges, such as AI ethics or sustainable energy, reflecting a shift from solo scholars to team-based, grant-driven science.
Explore tips for research assistants.
Most research jobs demand a PhD in a relevant field, such as biology or engineering, ensuring deep expertise. Entry-level roles like research assistants may require only a master's degree or even a bachelor's with strong lab experience. Advanced positions prioritize doctoral training from accredited universities.
Expertise aligns with institutional strengths—biomedicine at top universities or environmental science in places like American Samoa Community College (ASCC), where marine biology research addresses coral reef preservation amid climate change. Focus areas include hypothesis testing, peer review, and ethical compliance.
Preferred experience includes peer-reviewed publications (aim for 5+ for mid-level roles), grant writing success, and conference presentations. Skills encompass statistical analysis, programming (e.g., R, MATLAB), project management, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Soft skills like perseverance in long-term studies are crucial.
In American Samoa, a US territory, research jobs at ASCC center on local needs like sustainable fisheries and cultural preservation. With its unique Polynesian context and ocean surroundings, projects explore biodiversity, drawing federal funding. These roles offer fieldwork in stunning lagoons while contributing to global science.
Network at conferences, build a portfolio via research assistant jobs, and tailor applications. Actionable advice: Start with post-bac programs if needed, volunteer in labs, and track metrics like h-index for credibility. In competitive fields, persistence pays off—many PIs applied to dozens of positions.
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If you are searching for research jobs in American Samoa, you need more than a keyword dump of “scientist” ads. You need openings that match how universities actually hire: postdoctoral fellowships, research assistant and associate roles, research fellows, lab technicians, research coordinators, and faculty researcher lines. Academic Jobs (AJ) is built for that search. Every listing on this page is already filtered to university and institute research roles, so you spend time on fit — lab, method, contract length, and location — instead of wading through unrelated industry postings.
Job seekers come here with a clear intent: find a funded research post they can apply to this week. Use the filters above to narrow by city, institution, employment type, or a keyword such as CRISPR, ethnography, or clinical trials. On a country page the region is pre-set, so the count in the heading is the live number of research openings in American Samoa, not a global total. That is the number you should trust when you are deciding whether to relocate, stay local, or keep a worldwide search open.
AJ aggregates research jobs from universities, medical schools, national labs, and research institutes in one board. That matters because most research hiring is still posted on a single employer career site and easy to miss if you only check two or three campuses. A postdoc in public health, a research technician in a core facility, and a research professor line will not sit on the same faculty page — they will sit on AJ if the employer posted or syndicated the role. You can also save a job alert with the same research filters so new fellowships hit your inbox instead of disappearing after a short closing window.
Compared with general job boards, AJ’s research collection is scoped to higher education. You will still see staff research and faculty research together, which is useful when your next step could be either a fellowship or a research-track faculty post. Pair this page with Science Jobs if you want scientist titles, or Professor Jobs if you are targeting a teaching-and-research chair. For most candidates asking “where do I find research jobs in American Samoa that I can actually apply for?”, the short answer is this listing: live count, research-only filters, and a board that employers in higher education already use.
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