Each character on The Big Bang Theory had unique traits that defined them and that uniqueness extended to their jobs. Although most of the characters were involved in Science, they had individual fields of interest and expertise. To some extent, Penny had become a part of the Science world as well once she started working for a pharmaceutical company.
At several points in the series, the show focused on each of their professions, showing their failures and achievements. Their achievements ranged from awards to publication in noteworthy journals and acknowledgment from their seniors. While some characters had more major accomplishments than others, they all showed how good they were at their jobs from time to time.
Howard Becomes An Astronaut On The International Space Station
After several engineering mishaps, Howard finally got his moment to shine when his team's design for a deep field space telescope was chosen to be mounted on the International Space Station. In addition, he was selected to go along on the trip as the payload specialist. The trip to space finally happened in the season 5 finale, making Howard an astronaut officially.
Before this space trip, Howard had made lots of other gadgets, most of which ended in disaster and were partially responsible for the taunts he received from Sheldon over his field of expertise. Of all his work accomplishments, becoming an astronaut was the most impressive, which the university honored by giving him a designated parking spot when he got back from space.
Raj Named As One Of People Magazine's "30 Visionaries Under 30 To Watch"
Way back in season 1, Raj was selected as one of People Magazine's "30 Visionaries Under 30 To Watch" for discovering and reporting a trans-Neptunian object. Dr. Gabbelhouser, the president of the university at the time, called him "a star" for his achievement, gave him an assistant, and invited him to dine in the executive dining room.
Raj had a couple more achievements on the show, including his work with Sheldon on dark matter and the comet he and Penny discovered together. But this achievement was the one that got more positive recognition, unlike the negative press he received for accidentally declaring aliens were real in season 12.
Sheldon And Amy Awarded The Nobel Prize In Physics
Just before they exchanged vows in the season 11 finale, Sheldon and Amy came up with the idea for super asymmetry. A large part of season 12 focused on them developing the idea and getting nominated for a Nobel Prize. The season 12 finale ended with one of The Big Bang Theory's most heartwarming moments when Sheldon and Amy were awarded the Nobel Prize with their friends in attendance at the ceremony.
From the first season, Sheldon spoke of how he had better chances of getting a Nobel as compared to Leonard and this actually came true. Back then, Sheldon was a lot more condescending and didn't like sharing credit for his academic work. This Nobel Prize win not only became a dream coming true but also showed how much he'd changed from the first season until the last.
Penny Is The Third-Best Pharmaceutical Sales Representative
Although Penny was a terrible waitress and didn't see much success with her acting career, she did remarkably well as a pharmaceutical sales representative. In the season 8 episode, "The Champagne Reflection," her boss commented that she was already the third-best representative, even though she was still new.
After watching Penny struggle with her waitressing job and her acting, it was a nice change of pace to see her excel at her new job. Thanks to encouragement from Bernadette, training, and her own skills, she did really well and achieved a lot in a short time. Out of all the workplace decisions Penny made on The Big Bang Theory, this was the best one she made.
Bernadette Gets FDA Approval On A Anti-Inflammatory Drug
After spending five years working on an anti-inflammatory drug, Bernadette's work paid off and the FDA accepted her drug so she could start marketing it. The drug had gone through three years of testing without any reported side effects, which was quite a good thing.
Bernadette mentioned her work several times on the show and most of the time, it was in reference to some serious side effects of whatever drug she was working on. Getting a drug approved by the FDA and without any side effects is quite an accomplishment in the world of pharmaceuticals, making this one of the best achievements on the show.
Leonard And Sheldon's Paper On The Superfluid Vacuum Theory
While having dinner with Penny in season 8's "The Troll Manifestation," Leonard had an epiphany regarding his experimental work with superfluid Helium. He shared his thoughts with Sheldon, who wrote a paper about it and they named it the Cooper-Hofstadter Theory. Not only did they get positive reviews from the Science community and get featured in an American Science journal, but Stephen Hawking also complimented them on an intriguing premise.
Although Sheldon and Leonard were best friends on The Big Bang Theory, when it came to academics, Sheldon had a tendency to look down on Leonard. This theory wasn't their first or last collaboration, but it was definitely their best. It got more attention, both from the science community at large and one of their idols, Stephen Hawking. Plus, it was one of the few times where the two of them got along academic-wise.
Howard, Leonard And Sheldon's Quantum Guidance System
In the season 9 episode, "The Positive Negative Reaction," Howard suggested using Leonard and Sheldon's superfluid vacuum theory to create a gyroscope that could be used as a guidance system. After they worked on it for a while, the Department of Defense became interested in it and approached them to develop it further.
The idea was good and innovative to the point that it got military attention. Unfortunately, it didn't go further than that as the military took over the project once they completed it in season 10 episode "The Gyroscopic Collapse."
Amy Features On The Cover Of A Scientific Journal
While Amy and Sheldon were on a date night at the Cheesecake Factory in the season 5 episode "The Shiny Trinket Maneuver," she shared the good news that her paper on how her scientific paper made the cover of Neuron. She had written the paper herself and was thrilled at her life-long dream coming true.
As a neurobiologist, Amy's solo paper being published in a distinguished journal was a pretty big deal for her, especially because it had the potential to change the course of her field. Her work was highlighted from time to time on the show, but other than some interesting experiments, it didn't get as much attention as this paper and her Nobel Prize win.
Sheldon Wins The Chancellor's Award For Science
The Chancellor's Award for Science was a yearly award and in the season 3 episode "The Pants Alternative," Leonard announced that Sheldon was the chosen winner for that year. To receive the award, Sheldon was required to give a speech at the university banquet, which made him nervous because he wasn't comfortable addressing large crowds.
Before he found out he was getting the award, Sheldon complained that his accomplishments were always overlooked by the university. Most of the time he made comments like these because he believed he was smarter than everyone else and thus deserved more recognition. As The Big Bang Theory continued, Sheldon overcame that flaw and acknowledged others when they did well.
Sheldon And Leonard's Research On The Properties Of Super Solids
In the season 1 episode, "The Cooper-Hofstadter Polarization," Leonard discovered that he and Sheldon had been invited to present their joint research on the properties of super solids by the Institute for Experimental Physics. Sheldon didn't want to go, believing it to be a waste of time even though it was a big deal so Leonard did the presentation alone.
The guys didn't often get recognition for their work so this invitation to speak at a conference about their research meant a lot to Leonard. Unfortunately, at the time Sheldon believed himself to be the only one who could decide on academic matters, leading to their public fight at the conference.