Research positions in higher education, commonly known as research jobs, are professional roles centered on advancing knowledge through systematic investigation. The meaning of a research position involves designing studies, gathering data, analyzing results, and disseminating findings via publications or presentations. These jobs exist in universities, research institutes, and national labs, supporting fields from natural sciences to humanities.
Unlike teaching-focused roles, research jobs emphasize originality and impact. For instance, a researcher might spend years on a project yielding breakthroughs, such as Chile's contributions to astronomy via the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), where international teams conduct cutting-edge observations.
The evolution of research positions traces back to 19th-century universities adopting the German Humboldtian model, blending teaching and research. Post-World War II, government funding exploded, creating dedicated research jobs. In the 1950s-60s, agencies like the U.S. National Science Foundation formalized postdocs and fellowships. Today, global competition drives research jobs, with Chile investing heavily since the 1990s through CONICYT (now Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo, ANID), funding over 10,000 projects annually.
Research jobs vary by level but share core duties:
Entry-level research assistants handle support tasks, while senior researchers lead projects as principal investigators (PIs).
Postdoctoral Researcher (Postdoc): A temporary research job for PhD graduates to build expertise, typically 2-5 years, focusing on independent projects.
Principal Investigator (PI): The lead researcher responsible for a project's direction, funding, and team management.
Peer-Reviewed Journal: A publication where articles undergo expert scrutiny before acceptance, ensuring quality in research jobs.
To secure research jobs, candidates need specific academic qualifications, expertise, and experience. A PhD in a relevant field is standard for most positions beyond assistant level; master's holders suffice for junior roles.
Research Focus or Expertise Needed: Deep knowledge in a specialty, such as astrophysics in Chile's observatories or renewable energy, aligned with institutional priorities.
Preferred Experience: 5+ peer-reviewed publications, successful grant applications (e.g., FONDECYT in Chile), and conference presentations. Prior lab or fieldwork counts heavily.
Skills and Competencies:
Actionable advice: Build a portfolio early by co-authoring papers during your PhD. Tailor applications to funding calls, like Chile's ANID postdoctoral grants offering up to CLP 30 million yearly.
Chile stands out for research jobs in astronomy, seismology (given its tectonic activity), and sustainable mining. Universidad de Chile hosts centers like the Millennium Institute for Astronomy, employing hundreds. Globally, opportunities abound at Ivy League schools or via Ivy League guide institutions.
For career growth, review how to thrive in postdoctoral roles or excel as a research assistant, applicable worldwide.
Ready to pursue research jobs? Explore openings on higher-ed jobs boards, seek career advice via higher ed career advice, browse university jobs, or if hiring, post a job to attract top talent.
If you are searching for research jobs in Chile, 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 Chile, 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 Chile 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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