TLS- Measuring and Tracking Research Knowledge Integration

加强科学和创新政策的科学依赖于更好的衡量标准。你无法管理你无法衡量的东西。 对于跨学科研究来说尤其如此，目前几乎没有普遍同意的具有可接受准确度的测量方法。 苏塞克斯大学的研究人员已经开始通过开发一个概念框架来衡量研究多样性来解决这个问题。 目前的项目建立在这一概念框架的基础上，以经验检验衡量特定研究机构跨学科性的指标。 其中一项拟议的关键措施是评估特定研究论文或此类论文集整合不同研究领域研究知识的程度。 第二个衡量标准确定研究论文集的专业化程度（例如，由特定研究中心公布的那些或诸如量子点的研究领域的那些）。 由此产生的措施有助于跟踪和表征新的（跨学科）研究领域的出现。 本提案所述项目力求为跨学科指标制定分析算法。 它还试图直观地描述研究活动领域之间的知识交流。 这种科学地图可以帮助确定和描述重点研究领域-领域-这些领域是其他领域使用的知识来源。 它们还可以显示这两个领域和贡献机构之间的知识和社会网络的程度。 该项目将通过美国和英国的合作，开发有效的方法来应用和测试这些新的指标。 拟议项目的重点是纳米科学和纳米工程（“纳米”），一个新兴的研究领域，具有相当大的意义，远远超出了传统的学科界限。 格鲁吉亚理工学院已经组装了一个大量的纳米数据集，该数据集将作为计算和评估指标变化的主要测试平台。 研究小组将生成选定纳米子主题的指标集和地图（例如，分子马达研究）。 这些指标集和地图将与研究人员和研发经理分享，以衡量其有效性和实用性。考虑到反馈意见，研究小组将制定一个分类的基础上确定连贯的研究subareas.Broader影响：这些工具更好地使科学家，科学管理人员，和联邦科学和监管机构，以衡量和跟踪跨领域的知识转移的纳米技术研究活动。 如果不能充分认识到这些模式的范围和复杂性，可能会导致重大的融资和监管错误。 新的指标和随附的地图有助于确定可能激发科学、技术和创新进步的杠杆点。 它们还可以通过确定趋同的知识领域-潜在的新兴“交叉学科”-促进研究生教育。“更好地了解研究景观可以帮助指导研究生课程和突出有前途的论文主题。 更准确的跨学科措施也有助于正在进行的国家科学院倡议，以加强跨学科研究在美国各地。

Enhanced Science of Science and Innovation Policy depends on better metrics. You can't manage what you can't measure. This is particularly true for interdisciplinary research, which currently has few generally agreed-upon measures with acceptable degrees of accuracy. Researchers at the University of Sussex have begun to address this problem by developing a conceptual framework to gauge research diversity. The current project builds upon that conceptual framework to empirically test metrics that gauge the interdisciplinarity of particular bodies of research. One proposed key measure assesses the degree to which particular research papers, or collections of such, integrate research knowledge from diverse research domains. A second measure determines the degree of specialization of collections of research papers (e.g., those published by a particular research center or those of a research area such as quantum dots). The resulting measures help track and characterize the emergence of new (interdisciplinary) research areas. The project described in this proposal seeks to generate analytical algorithms for indicators of interdisciplinarity. It also seeks to visually depict knowledge interchanges among areas of research activity. Such science maps can help identify and characterize focused areas of research--domains--that are sources of knowledge used by other domains. They can also show the extent of intellectual and social networking among both domains and contributing institutions. This project will, through US-UK collaboration, develop effective means to apply and test these new metrics. The proposed project focuses on nanoscience and nanoengineering ("nano"), an emergent research domain of considerable significance that extends well beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries. Georgia Tech has assembled a substantial nano dataset that will serve as the main testbed for computing and assessing indicator variations. The research team will generate indicator sets and maps of selected nano sub-topics (e.g., molecular motors research). These indicator sets and maps will be shared with researchers and R&D managers to gauge their validity and utility. Taking into account feedback, the research team will then develop a taxonomy of nanotechnology research activity based on identification of coherent research sub-areas.Broader Impacts: These tools better enable scientists, science managers, and Federal science and regulatory agencies to gauge and track cross-domain knowledge transfers. Failure to recognize the full extent and complexity of these patterns could result in major funding and regulatory mistakes. The new indicators and accompanying maps help identify leverage points likely to spark advances in science, technology, and innovation. They can also facilitate graduate education by identifying convergent knowledge domains - potentially emerging "interdisciplines." Better understanding of research landscapes can help orient graduate curricula and spotlight promising dissertation topics. More accurate interdisciplinarity measures also contribute to an ongoing National Academies initiative to bolster interdisciplinary research across the US.