Recruiting For Discovery Missions (September 2005)

The recent US space mission was nearly aborted when the ceramic cloth gap filler came loose during the take-off of Space Shuttle Discovery, threatening the safety of the Shuttle’s landing and a repeat of the 2002 Columbia disaster.

As the world held its breath, Astronaut Stephen Robinson went space-walking to remove the rogue material, enabling Discovery to land safely.

Even cutting-edge science depends occasionally on lateral thinking, a creative fix, and the courage and input of individuals. Similarly, choosing the right people for research, design,  support and development in emerging technology, is a delicate and skilled process. They need to have the right combination of qualifications and aptitude, often combining a variety of  different scientific disciplines.

New Discovery Director Zoë Dunn has spent the last few years developing an understanding of the personnel needs of discovery science companies. “We work closely with many of the UK’s major pharmaceutical companies and new and growing technology start-ups, helping them to fill temporary and permanent vacancies,” she explains.

“Our clients are involved in such fast-evolving areas as biometrics, informatics, forensics, robotics, biotechnology, proteomics, genomics and nutraceuticals. However, the rate of progress of these leading-edge technologies is sometimes limited by their ability to find the right people to help move projects forward. Typically they need personnel who have strong science and IT capabilities and can bring their skills and experience into the new technology field.”

“For example, one major multinational pharmaceutical company came to New Discovery when they realised that they needed an individual who had experience in the medical science field but was also an enterprise technology expert. They were seeking someone who could help them collate information from a wide range of disparate data sources and manage it intelligently, so that the crucial research information could be shared across the international scientific infrastructure.”