MOD Measurement and Analysis of Highly Creative Research in the US and Europe

创新能力是科技进步的重要基石，也是其他社会领域进步的先决条件。在促进科学驱动的商业发展和新的全球研究地点（特别是中国）崛起的竞争压力加剧的背景下，美国和其他发达经济体的研究决策者希望对科学研究的制度和组织环境进行调整，不仅可以提高效率，还可以促进科学卓越和创造力。与这些需求相反，创造力通常是在微观层面上通过认知研究来研究的，这些研究将研究人员嵌入研究实验室或应用个体属性（如智力）的心理测量。在另一个极端，它是在国家层面上使用国家指标的出版和引用强度来衡量的。本研究调查了研究环境的中观水平（团队、组织、机构）的特征，特别关注人类遗传学和纳米技术方面的高度创造性和非传统的研究活动。在最近完成的一项初步试点研究的基础上，该研究确定了美国和欧洲这两个科学领域中具有高度创造力的科学家，本研究扩展了测量和分析方法，以解决以下问题：中观水平的环境特征对同行和学术奖励中具有高度创造力的研究人员的创造性成就有什么影响？如果有的话，这些影响对这些研究人员的职业道路有什么影响？本项目利用先前在两个领域进行的同行调查的数据，开发了一个新的具有高度创造性的研究人员简历数据库（CV）和一个比较组，以(1)揭示中观层面的背景因素（团队、组织和制度）对高度创造性研究绩效的影响；(2)职业模式的存在是个体内在能力与中观环境特征相互作用的结果，中观环境特征与高创造性研究相关；(3)探索被同行评价为高度创造性的工作与研究生涯的其他特征（如生产力、卓越性和可见性）之间的关系。该研究通过进一步发展和扩展CV分析，为政策科学研究的方法论做出了贡献。确定研究环境中的中观因素对研究和人力资源管理以及资助计划的设计和实施具有重要意义。其中一些因素——如奖励机制、资助计划、研究地点的组织设置和促进职业相关机制——是大学和教师管理、工业研发管理、资助组织和国家研究政策感兴趣的。比较领域的使用扩大了影响的范围。人类遗传学是一个建立的生物医学领域，由一套相对稳定的学科支持。相比之下，纳米技术是一个新兴的跨学科领域。同样，该项目将研究结果扩展到美国以外的研究和创新系统。包含与创造性研究者提名者、创造性研究者和比较组简历、以及奖励和奖品相关的变量的公共数据集将被提供给其他人使用。这组科学家计划在同行评议的期刊上发表研究结果，开发会议和可在网上访问的文件，以及一个政策研讨会，以便与科学政策实践者进一步发展这项研究的意义。由于这项研究是由一个国际小组进行的，研究对象是国际科学家，因此它将加强比较国际研究联系，并为青年研究人员提供机会，培训他们衡量创造力和组织影响。

Creative capabilities are an important cornerstone of progress in science and technology, and also a precondition for advances in other societal domains. In the context of heightened competitive pressures to foster science-driven business development and the rise of new global locations for research (especially China), research policymakers in the U.S. and other developed economies hope that adjustments to institutional and organizational environments for scientific research will promote not only more efficiency but also boost scientific excellence and creativity. In contrast with these needs, creativity usually is investigated at the micro level through cognitive studies that embed investigators in research laboratories or apply psychological measurement of individual attributes such as intelligence. At the other extreme, it has been measured at the national level using national indicators of publication and citation strength. This study investigates features of the meso level (team, organizational, institutional) of the research environment, with particular focus on highly creative and unconventional research activities in human genetics and nanotechnology. Building on a recently completed initial pilot study which identified highly creative scientists in these two scientific fields in the U.S. and Europe, this study extends the measurement and analytical approaches to address the question: What features of the environment at the meso level have an effect on the creative achievements of researchers identified by peers and academic awards as highly creative and what patterns, if any, do these effects have in the career paths of these researchers. With data from a previously conducted survey of peers yielding nominees plus a set of prize winners in the two fields, this project develops a new database of Curriculum Vitae (CV) of the set of highly creative researchers and a comparison group to (1) reveal the influence of meso level contextual factors (team, organization and institutional) on the performance of highly creative research; (2) determine the existence of career patterns as a result of the interaction of the intrinsic ability of individuals and the features of the meso level environment that are associated with highly creative research; and (3) explore the relation of work assessed by peers to be highly creative with other features of a research career such as productivity, excellence and visibility. The study contributes to the methodology of science studies for policy by further developing and extending CV analysis. The identification of meso level factors in the research environment has implications for research and human resource management, and the design and implementation of funding schemes. Several of these factors--such as award mechanisms, funding programs, organizational set-up of research sites, and facilitation of career-relevant mechanisms--are of interest to university and faculty management, industrial research and development management, funding organizations, and national research policy. The use of comparative fields extends the range of impact. Human genetics is an established biomedical field supported by a relatively stable set of disciplines. In contrast, nanotechnology is a newer emerging and interdisciplinary field. Likewise, this project extends the findings to research and innovation systems beyond the U.S. context. Public datasets containing variables related to creative researcher nominees, creative researcher and comparison group CVs, and awards and prizes will be made available for use by others. The researchers plan to publish results in peer reviewed journals, develop conferences and Web-accessible documents, as well as a policy workshop to further develop the implications of the study with science policy practitioners. Since the study is carried out by an international team and study an international population of scientists, it will strengthen comparative international research linkages and provide opportunities for young researcher training in measurement of creativity and organizational influences.