Research & Biotech Resume: Structuring a Scientific Career with the Boréalis Collection
Whether you're coming off a PhD, chaining postdocs, or leading an R&D project at a biotech, your resume needs to tell the story of a rigorous scientific approach, not just list job titles. Between publications, experimental techniques, grants secured, and students supervised, recruiters in research and pharma expect precise signals to evaluate your profile in seconds. In this guide, we'll show you how to structure a resume that speaks to both academic panels and industrial HR teams, with concrete examples and templates designed for scientific profiles.
Fileify's Boréalis collection was crafted for this very specific world: clinical minimalism, glacier cyan and white, discreet molecular iconography, airy grids that let publication lists and protocols breathe. Pick it when you're applying to an academic lab, a CRO, a bioinformatics team, or a pharma company: each template (ADN, Anticorps, Chlore, Enzyme, Hélix, Molécule, Plasma) carries the same scientific precision, with layout variants suited to dense or lighter career paths.
Making Publications, Posters, and Conferences Readable
In research, the bibliography is often the first thing a hiring committee looks at. Don't drown it in an anonymous bullet list: structure it like a proper scientific section.
Prioritize by Output Type
Clearly separate peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, oral communications, posters, and preprints. Within each block, sort in reverse chronological order and bold your name so a reviewer instantly spots your authorship position.
Add the Metrics That Matter
Include the DOI, the impact factor if relevant, and your author rank (first author, co-first, corresponding author). For conferences, specify whether it was an invited talk, a selected oral presentation, or a poster.
Condense Smartly When the List Is Long
If you have more than fifteen publications, keep the five most impactful on the resume and link to your ORCID or Google Scholar for the rest. A scientific CV is above all a synthesis document.
Describing Techniques and Equipment Mastered
Industrial recruiters scan your resume looking for precise technical skills. A well-written Experimental Techniques section can make the difference between an automated filter and an interview.
- Molecular biology: PCR, qPCR, RT-PCR, cloning, CRISPR-Cas9, Western blot, Southern blot
- Protein analysis: HPLC, mass spectrometry, ELISA, affinity chromatography
- Cytometry and imaging: FACS, confocal microscopy, immunohistochemistry, live cell imaging
- Sequencing and bioinformatics: NGS (Illumina, Nanopore), RNA-seq, analysis in R/Python, Snakemake pipelines
Don't just list: indicate your level (autonomous, expert, familiar) and mention the specific equipment you've operated (BD FACSAria cytometer, Zeiss LSM 880 microscope, NovaSeq 6000 sequencer).
Showcasing Thesis, Postdoc, and Funded Projects
Academic recruiters judge you as much on your ability to secure funding as to produce results. Highlight the competitive projects you've worked on or led.
Thesis and Supervision
State the thesis title, the lab, the supervisor, the defense date, and the jury. Mention the students you've supervised (M1/M2 internships, PhDs): it's a strong signal of scientific maturity.
Postdoctoral researcher (2023-2026) — Institut Curie, "Genome Dynamics" team. Designed and led an ANR JCJC project (180 k€) on epigenetic regulation of hematopoietic stem cells, supervised two M2 interns, co-authored 4 publications including 2 as first author (Nature Communications, Cell Reports).
Grants and Distinctions
Explicitly list the fellowships and calls you've won: ANR, ERC Starting/Consolidator, H2020, Horizon Europe, FRM grants, Ligue contre le cancer, LabEx. For each, state the amount and your role (PI, co-PI, participant).
Tailoring Your Resume: Academia vs. Industry
This is the most common mistake among young PhDs: sending the same CV to a CNRS lab and a biotech. Expectations are radically different.
For Academia
Prioritize publications, teaching, supervision, communications, and research stays abroad. A 3-4 page CV is acceptable. Detail each research project through the lens of the scientific questions raised.
For Industry
Bring the document down to 2 pages maximum. Translate your skills into deliverables: "developed an ELISA validated for diagnostic use", "optimized a protein purification process (+30% yield)", "wrote SOPs and trained 4 technicians". Add a Soft Skills section (project management, GLP/GMP environment, communication with clinical teams).
For Bioinformatics and CROs
Highlight languages (Python, R, Bash), workflows (Nextflow, Snakemake), environments (HPC, AWS, GCP), and databases. For CROs, emphasize compliance (ICH-GCP, ISO 17025) and your experience with regulatory documentation.
Ready to give your scientific journey the layout it deserves? Explore the Boréalis collection and let Fileify generate a research & biotech resume tailored to your target, academic or industrial, in just a few minutes.