EAGER: Two Decades of Nanotechnology Development: Global Competitive Landscape and Knowledge Diffusion via ERGM and SIR Analysis

这个早期概念的探索性研究赠款金（EAGER）奖给亚利桑那大学提供资金，以研究纳米技术领域的研究人员之间的合作如何影响该领域研究的进展。为了保持美国。的竞争优势，美国政府已投资超过165亿美元的纳米技术研究和开发（研发），包括2012年预算的21亿美元，通过国家纳米技术倡议（NNI）。同样，世界其他国家也对纳米技术进行了大量投资。然而，这种资助对从研究到创新的知识传播的影响尚不清楚。此外，政府资助研究人员的合作网络与其他国家的合作网络是否存在差异尚不清楚。考虑到这些问题，研究人员将对美国和其他国家的纳米技术研究人员的合作网络进行研究，以了解哪些因素有助于研究人员-发明者合作网络的有效性，以及是否存在贡献最大或影响最大的因素。 这将通过应用指数随机图模型（ERGM）和易感-感染-传播（SIR）模型进行社会网络分析来实现，以模拟纳米技术知识和信息如何随着时间的推移在网络中移动;并探索公共资金以及基础研究人员，研究人员-发明者及其网络的属性如何随着时间的推移帮助或阻碍知识传播。 预计这项研究的结果将是一个更好地了解公共资金如何提高知识扩散的研究人员，发明人/研究人员的合作网络，以推进纳米技术研发在过去的二十年。

This EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) award to the University of Arizona provides funding to examine how collaboration among researchers in the field of nanotechnology has influenced the advancement of research in this field. To maintain the U.S.'s competitive edge, the U.S. government has invested over $16.5 billion in nanotechnology research and development (R&D) including the 2012 budget of $2.1 billion through the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). Likewise, significant investments in nanotechnology have been made by other nations throughout the world. However, the impacts of this funding on knowledge diffusion from research to innovation occurs is unclear. Moreover, it is unclear if there are differences between the collaboration networks of publicly funded researchers and others.Considering these questions, the researchers will examine collaboration networks of nanotechnology researchers the U.S. as well as those of other countries with a view toward learning which factors contribute to the effectiveness of researcher-inventors' collaboration networks, and if there are factors which contribute the most or have the greatest impact. This will be accomplished through the application of the Exponential Random Graph Model (ERGM) and Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR) model for social network analysis to model how nanotechnology knowledge and information moves through a network over time; and to explore how public funding as well as the attributes of basic researchers, researcher-inventors, and their networks may help or hinder knowledge diffusion over time. It is expected that an outcome of this research will be a better understanding of how public funding has improved knowledge diffusion in collaboration networks of researcher-inventors/researchers to advancing nanotechnology R&D for the past two decades.