Assessing Research and Development Projects' Impacts on Scientific and Technical Human Capital Development

对创新的研究已经确立了知识转移网络中的紧密耦合对于经济中成功的创新的重要性。它们表明，人员从一个组织、公司或团队流向另一个组织、公司或团队是知识交流过程中的关键。然而，对于研究背景和个人职业道路之间的相互作用，以及这些个人在进入新职位时所产生的实际影响路径，还没有太多系统、详细的知识。拟议的研究将通过将研究人员的职业道路与他们所从事的研究项目的特点相对应来解决这一问题。从美国和法国的至少20个项目开始，调查人员将检验几个假设，这些项目大多来自大学，但也有少数来自政府实验室，这些假设涉及团队导向型研发项目的特点与通过“项目毕业生”传播科技人力资本之间的联系。关键的研究问题是：“以团队为导向的研发项目的哪些特点会影响参与这些项目的人员的长期职业生涯，进而影响可用于创造知识和刺激技术发展的人力资源能力？”这些调查人员以前的案例研究表明，研发项目中的人力资源开发往往为科学家、工程师和技术人员提供进入全新工作环境和专业的机会(除其他外，包括工业技术开发、设备开发、技术和工艺以及新的科学领域)。因此，人力资本的扩散往往为科学研究和技术发展设定了新的方向。拟议的研究不仅寻求绘制这些过程的地图，而且还试图确定研发项目的管理结构、内容和联系如何导致不同类型的人力资源和能力成果。研究设计是多领域和多国家的，专注于两个广泛的、多学科的科学领域和两个国家的项目。在与能源部资助的项目合作后，该小组将审查能源和环境项目，包括基础研究项目和更多应用项目。根据其法国合作者最近的研究重点，该团队将审查生物技术和生命科学的研究。这项研究将包括两个主要部分。第一阶段将对三至十年前开始的项目进行深入的案例研究，以尽可能多地了解其结构、管理方式、人员和成果。第二阶段采用问卷调查和访谈的方式来确定“项目毕业生”的职业发展轨迹、人力资本天赋水平、工作效率和网络联系。这种做法将有助于了解这些重点项目的经验如何影响参与者的职业道路和贡献。成果将包括个人和联合出版物以及联合讲习班。

Studies of innovation have established the importance of close coupling in knowledge transfer networks for successful innovations in the economy. They show that the flow of people from one organization, firm, or group to another is key in the process of knowledge exchange. However, there is not much systematic, detailed knowledge of the interactions of research contexts and the career paths of individuals, and the actual impact paths which these individuals create as they move to new positions. The proposed research will address this issue by mapping the career paths of researchers against features of the research projects they worked in. Beginning with at least 20 projects in the U.S. and France, most from university settings but a few from government laboratories, the investigators will test several hypotheses about the connection between the characteristics of team oriented R&D projects and the diffusion of scientific and technical human capital via the "projects' graduates." The key research question is: "What characteristics of team-oriented R&D projects affect the long-term careers of persons involved in those projects and, in turn, the human resources capacity available for creating knowledge and spurring technology development?" Prior case studies by these investigators show that human resources development in R&D projects often provides opportunities for scientists, engineers and technicians to move into entirely new work contexts and specialties (including, among others, technology development in industry, equipment development, technique and craft, and new fields of science). Thus, the diffusion of human capital often sets new directions for scientific research and technology development. The proposed research seeks not only to map these processes but also to determine the ways in which the management structure, content and linkages of R&D projects lead to different sorts of human resources and capacity outcomes. The research design is multi-field and multi-national, focused on projects in two broad, multidisciplinary scientific fields and in two nations. Following work with Department of Energy funded projects, the team will examine energy and environmental projects, including both basic research projects and more applied projects. Following the recent research focus of its French collaborators, the team will examine research in biotechnology and life sciences. The research will have two major components. Phase I will consist of intensive case studies of projects originating between three and ten years ago, in order to learn as much as possible about their structure, management style, personnel and results. Phase II uses questionnaires and interviews to determine the career trajectories, level of human capital endowments, productivity and network linkages of "project graduates." This approach will contribute to understanding the ways in which experiences in those focal projects have affected the career paths and contributions of participants. Results will include individual and joint publications and a joint workshop.