Salary and Outlook

According to the US Department of Labor, there are 33,000 people employed as computer and information research scientists in the United States. The median annual salary is $126,800. Entry level employees earn approximately $72,210 per year and senior employees earn approximately $194,430 per year.

Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime pay, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.

Job Duties

• Conduct logical analyses of business, scientific, engineering, and other technical problems, formulating mathematical models of problems for solution by computers.
• Evaluate project plans and proposals to assess feasibility issues.
• Participate in multidisciplinary projects in areas such as virtual reality, human-computer interaction, or robotics.
• Consult with users, management, vendors, and technicians to determine computing needs and system requirements.
• Develop and interpret organizational goals, policies, and procedures.
• Develop performance standards, and evaluate work in light of established standards.
• Maintain network hardware and software, direct network security measures, and monitor networks to ensure availability to system users.
• Direct daily operations of departments, coordinating project activities with other departments.
• Participate in staffing decisions and direct training of subordinates.
• Approve, prepare, monitor, and adjust operational budgets.
• Analyze problems to develop solutions involving computer hardware and software.
• Apply theoretical expertise and innovation to create or apply new technology, such as adapting principles for applying computers to new uses.
• Assign or schedule tasks to meet work priorities and goals.
• Meet with managers, vendors, and others to solicit cooperation and resolve problems.
• Design computers and the software that runs them.

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