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Samurai is literally translated as "servant", personnel who serve the Daimyo closely. Overtime, the servants evolved to become a class with the warrior title. They not only run the campaigns as military officers, but also managed the territory as administers.
Samurais were not soldiers or house servants, but a class of its own. However, they could not have their own territories even though they fought to occupy it, because it was not allowed by their social class- they were literally the servants who can only serve without ownership. When a Daimyo's land ownership ended (e.g. being conquered or no male heir), samurais were dismissed and they needed to seek new hiring by another Daimyo. The only path for a samurai to own territory, so he did not have to worry about next job, was to become a Daimyo. He needed to fight to occupy a land, gathered his own team, and then submitted a request to the emperor for nominating him to be the master of the land. There was no promotion from Samurai to Daimyo. You have to get into a new social class.
The counterpart of samurai in modern academic research is staff scientist, if you understand how a laboratory is operated in a research institute.
Don't get me wrong, I did not try to be sour or bitter. I have been a staff scientist for almost two decades. I loved my job and was proud of my research (e.g. the mouse models I built are used in many laboratories nationwide). However, the career path of staff scientist is restricted by the definition of the position, which is a class of its own but could not go beyond.
For any young scientist who gets a staff scientist position, congratulation! I am pretty sure you will enjoy the time purely focusing on science and research so much. However, please allow me to remind you: get ready for the change, which is definitely coming. If you want to fight to become a Daimyo, that's great and I wish you the best luck. Meanwhile, please understand, you are not in the Sengoku period; you have a lot of different choices in 21st century. Check them out and prepare yourself for the new direction.