Table 2. Characteristics of different research types. The listed arguments state the authors’ perception based on personal experience.
| Characteristics | Basic research | Translational research | Clinical research | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retrospective | Prospective | |||
| Institutional factors | ||||
| Laboratory needed | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Laboratory staff needed | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Clinical study personal needed | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Project factors | ||||
| Project duration (months) | 6–36 | 6–36 | 6–12 | 12–60 |
| Funding required (T €) | 50–300 | 50–300 | <50 | > 600 |
| Plannability | Good | Fair | Good | Poor |
| Work independently | ++ | +/− | +++ | − |
| Follow-up projects | Common | Common | Depends | Rare |
| Publication in basic science journals possible? | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Scientific impact | Moderate/high | Moderate | Low | Very high |
| Personal skills needed | ||||
| Cell culture | + | +/− | − | − |
| Biochemistry | + | +/− | − | − |
| Microscopy/imaging | + | + | − | − |
| Animal experiments | +/− | +/− | − | − |
| Biostatistics | + | + | +++ | +++ |
| Clinical research ethics | + | + | + | + |
| Clinical trial management | − | − | − | + |
| Regulatory expertise | − | +/− | − | +/− |
−, not relevant; +/−, sometimes relevant; +, relevant; ++, more relevant; +++, very relevant.