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

这项授予亚利桑那大学的早期概念探索性研究补助金(AGERGE)奖提供了资金，以考察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S的竞争优势，美国政府在纳米技术研发上投入了超过165亿美元，其中包括2012年通过国家纳米技术倡议(National Nanotech Initiative)投入的21亿美元预算。同样，世界各地的其他国家也在纳米技术方面进行了大量投资。然而，这笔资金对从研究到创新的知识扩散的影响尚不清楚。考虑到这些问题，研究人员将考察美国和其他国家的纳米技术研究人员的合作网络，以期了解哪些因素对研究人员-发明家的合作网络的有效性做出贡献，以及是否存在贡献最大或影响最大的因素。这将通过将指数随机图模型(ERGM)和易感感染恢复(SIR)模型应用于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在网络中传播；并探索公共资金以及基础研究人员、研究人员和发明家及其网络的属性如何有助于或阻碍知识随着时间的推移传播。预计这项研究的结果将是更好地理解过去20年公共资金如何改善研究人员-发明家/研究人员合作网络中的知识传播，以推进纳米技术研发。

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.