Biostatistics Career Guide: Courses, Jobs & Salary

Career guidance for biostatistics that covers education, employment, pay, and advancement.
UniList Desk

Updated Feb 18, 2026 | 07:35 PM IST

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Biostatistics is a field that uses math and statistics to figure out health and medical issues. This field helps people who do research make sense of information from medicine and things like trials. Biostatistics is also used to understand information from public health studies. Biostatisticians are very important because they help people make healthcare decisions by using the information they get from biostatistics.

What is Biostatistics?

Biostatistics is a field that brings together biology and statistics to look at data from hospitals, research labs, government health departments, and pharmaceutical companies. The people who work in this field, biostatisticians, look closely at data from clinical trials, studies about diseases, and surveys about health.

Courses in Biostatistics in India

Certificate and Diploma Courses
  • These short courses usually go on for three to twelve months. They teach you about concepts and software tools like R, SPSS, and SAS.
  • These short courses are really good for people who are just starting out and want to learn skills very quickly.
Degree Courses
  • B.Sc in Biostatistics – Undergraduate course for students after 12th science.
  • M.Sc in Biostatistics – Postgraduate course for deeper knowledge.
  • Master of Public Health (Focus: Biostatistics). This course combines health and statistics with the objective of analyzing health issues using data analysis.
  • PhD in Biostatistics for research and academic purposes.
Eligibility
  • Undergraduate: 10+2 qualified in Mathematics or Science.
  • Postgraduate: Relevant B.Sc degree or equivalent.
Essential Skills
People who work with statistics in biology need:
  • Strong analytical and numerical skills
  • Proficiency in software like R and SAS
  • Attention to detail and clear logical thinking
  • Effective communication skills

Top Job Roles in Biostatistics

Graduates can get jobs in healthcare, research, and public health. They can do things like:
  1. Biostatistician – Analyze medical and health data.
  2. Clinical Data Analyst – Work with clinical trial data.
  3. Epidemiologist – Study disease patterns in communities.
  4. Public Health Analyst – Support government health planning.

Salary in India

Biostatistics is a field that pays well, and the salary gets even better as you get more experience in biostatistics.
  • Entry-Level (B.Sc graduates): Rs3–6 lakh per year
  • Experienced with Postgraduate Degree: ₹8–12 lakh per year
  • Senior Experts (pharma or analytics sectors): Rs15 lakh per year or more

Career Growth in India

The demand for biostatisticians is really going up because healthcare and research analytics are getting bigger in India. Career opportunities for biostatisticians include:
  • Government Health Departments and Research Organisations
  • Academic staff roles within a university
  • Leadership roles with advanced degrees (M.Sc or PhD)
  • International opportunities for data-driven health research

Top Government Colleges & Universities in India

  1. All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) – Public Health & Statistics Research
  2. Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) – Strong Science and Research Infrastructure
  3. Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata & Delhi – Known for statistics and biostatistics
  4. Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore – Health and Biosciences Research Focus
  5. Manipal Academy of Higher Education – Good curriculum with practical exposure
A career in biostatistics can be fascinating as it involves numerical analysis with life sciences. In India, it has numerous opportunities in research, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and the government sector, and with proper courses and degrees, you can create a successful career.

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