Laboratory assistant
| Highest | $4,000 / mo · Switzerland |
|---|---|
| Experience | 0–1 yrs |
| Degree | Required |
| First paycheck | 3–4 years of study (first month in German Ausbildung) |
Pay in the destination countries
Monthly, in US dollars. Each country is an Imora admission package — open one for that route's fees, language requirement and deadline.
| Country | Monthly |
|---|---|
| SwitzerlandIELTS 6.5 · CHF 0.9–8k | $4,000max |
| NorwayIELTS 6.0–6.5 · NOK 130–260k | $3,550 |
| United StatesTOEFL 80–100 · $10–70k | $3,500 |
| DenmarkIELTS 6.5 · DKK 45–135k | $3,200 |
| GermanyIELTS 6.5 · €0–3k | $3,100 |
| FinlandIELTS 6.0–6.5 · €6–18k | $3,100 |
What does the day look like?
Two tiers exist under this role. The first is core glasswash support: collecting dirty glassware and plasticware from research labs, removing labels, washing them by hand or loading industrial washers like the Lancer 1400LX using LCD-P detergent and LCA-A acid rinse, running autoclaves, refilling pipette tip boxes, and returning sterilised items. In glasswash roles, 70–90% of your shift is cleaning, sterilising, stocking, and logistics; under 10% is experiment design.
The second tier is the research laboratory technician: preparing samples, running routine assays, maintaining HPLC, fermenters, and molecular equipment, and recording data in LIMS or spreadsheets. Daily tools include pipettes, autoclaves, centrifuges, pH meters, GraphPad Prism, and ImageJ. Here, 40–60% of the day is hands-on bench work under a protocol, with the remainder spent on prep, maintenance, admin, and COSHH/BioCOSHH safety. Hours are mostly weekday day shifts (35–40 hours per week in the UK); shift work and on-call duties occur in clinical labs rather than research support.
Where does this lead?
Next step up
What do you make of this job?