Career · Science and research
Research chemist
Studies substances and how they change, runs experiments and explains the results.
Career overview
What a day looks like
A research chemist prepares an experiment, carefully mixes and measures substances and writes down everything they observe. Then they go through the results, check them with a repeat experiment and describe the conclusions.
Try it yourself this week
30 minutes
Do a kitchen experiment: what makes ice melt faster
- Put one ice cube of the same size on each of three saucers. Sprinkle a pinch of salt on the first, a pinch of sugar on the second, and leave the third as it is.
- Before you start watching, write down a prediction: which cube will melt first and why.
- Every 5 minutes, write down what each cube looks like, or take photos.
- Compare the result with your prediction and find out why it happened in a textbook or a reliable source. Write the explanation in your own words.
What you'll learn about yourself: Whether you enjoy testing a guess with an experiment — and have the patience to write down the same thing every five minutes.
30 minutes
Ask a science question and check the answer in two sources
- Choose a question about chemistry, biology, physics or space that really interests you, for example: why does a vaccine protect you if you haven't had the disease yet?
- Write down your guess — what you think now, before you search.
- Find the answer in two different sources: a textbook, a popular science website, an encyclopedia. Write down where they agree and where they differ.
- Note which source you trust more and why, and how the answer differs from your guess.
What you'll learn about yourself: Whether you like digging down to the real explanation and comparing sources — or the first answer you find is enough for you.
What you can do next
Next 3 months
Do a safe kitchen experiment
Pick an experiment with ordinary food, predict the result, run it and write down whether you were right.
In six months
Read how matter is built
Find an explanation in a school textbook or a popular science book of what substances are made of and retell it in your own words.
In a year
Talk to a scientist or lab worker
Through a teacher, and together with your parents, ask someone in this job what the work looks like.
What it pays
No verified information is available in this section yet.
Where to study
No verified information is available in this section yet.
How to get into college
College gets you a profession faster than university. You can apply after grade 9 or after grade 11.
- Colleges accept students both after grade 9 and after grade 11. After grade 9 you study longer — about 3 years 10 months; after grade 11, about 2 years 10 months. The exact length depends on the college and the specialty.
Source: kchk.edu.kz (opens in a new tab) - About 80% of students admitted to colleges in the 2024/25 school year study on a state order, which means in state-funded places (in 2023/24 it was about 70%). But each college and each specialty has its own number of state-funded places.
Source: inbusiness.kz (opens in a new tab) - There are also paid colleges. For example, training as a nurse at ADILMED costs 450,000 ₸ per year. Check the price and conditions on the college's website.
Source: adilmed.kz (opens in a new tab)
UNT: which subjects to take for university
The UNT (Unified National Testing) is Kazakhstan's national university entrance test. You need it to get into university after grade 11.
- The UNT 2026 has three compulsory subjects: History of Kazakhstan, Reading Literacy and Mathematical Literacy. On top of these, you take two profile subjects, chosen to match your specialty.
Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab) - In total, the test has 120 questions (maximum 140 points) and you get 4 hours. The format is the same as in 2025.
Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab) - Profile subjects depend on the group of specialties. For example: information technology — Mathematics and Computer Science; nursing and veterinary medicine — Biology and Chemistry; electrical engineering — Mathematics and Physics; law — World History and Fundamentals of Law. The full list is published by the National Testing Center.
Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab) - For creative specialties (for example, media and design), you take History of Kazakhstan and Reading Literacy through the UNT, and two creative exams at the university itself.
Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab) - Some universities have their own admission rules. Nazarbayev University, for example, requires a UNT score of at least 85, a GPA of 4.0 and English at IELTS 6.0 level.
Source: nu.edu.kz (opens in a new tab)
Courses and opportunities
No verified information is available in this section yet.
History of the career
No verified information is available in this section yet.
Well-known people in this field
No verified information is available in this section yet.