HNDS-R: Connectivity, Inclusiveness, and the Permeability of Basic Science

科技创新是经济增长的关键决定因素。美国继续竞争成为科学领域的全球领导者，并确保政府在促进科学进步方面发挥作用。当前的两场政策辩论围绕着政府投资与科学创新和经济增长之间的联系展开：(1)由于绝对的差异而错失了机会；(2)学术研究在推动科学前沿方面的作用。通过评估Arpanet，这个项目通过连通性的镜头进入了这些政策辩论的核心。Arpanet是现代互联网的前身，于1969年推出，首次在不同城市的科学家之间提供计算机连接(电子邮件和数据共享设施)。这项研究通过分析Arpanet是否通过使不同机构之间的合作更容易获得来帮助缩小科学生产力方面的绝对差距，从而为当前关于STEM包容性的辩论做出了贡献。其次，由于Arpanet的网络横跨大学和企业，这项研究为关于学术研究在塑造企业研发方面的社会价值的政策讨论提供了信息。研究的第一个目标是调查解释STEM领域活动差异的结构性原因。研究人员探索，与男性科学家相比，接触Arpanet是否会大幅扩大自己所在科研机构以外的潜在合作者池，从而提高女性科学家的新颖性和生产力。该项目的第二个目标是为当前关于大学基础上具有社会价值的基础科学如何塑造企业创新的辩论提供信息。该项目衡量了大学开展的基础科学与企业实验室通过Arpanet开发的应用科学之间的交叉授粉程度。具体地说，研究人员估计了企业实验室的专利产量和与Arpanet相关的大学的引用率。关于1958年至1980年期间ARPA合同的用户友好的大规模数据集将包括机构和个人的信息，并与来自多个来源的数据相匹配，包括加利福尼亚州的计算机历史博物馆和马里兰州的国家档案和记录管理局(NARA)的档案。该项目由科学科学：发现、交流和影响计划、人类网络和数据科学计划以及科学和技术研究计划共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Scientific innovation is a key determinant of economic growth. The United States continues to compete to be a global leader in science and ensure the role of government in promoting scientific progress. Two current policy debates revolve around the connection between government investments and scientific innovation and economic growth: (1) missed opportunities due to categorical disparities and (2) the role of academic research in pushing the scientific frontier. By evaluating Arpanet, this project gets at the heart of these policy debates through the lens of connectivity. Arpanet, the precursor to the modern Internet, was launched in 1969 and for the first time provided computer connectivity (electronic mail and data sharing facilities) between scientists located in different cities. This research contributes to the current debate on inclusiveness in STEM by analyzing whether Arpanet helped to reduce the categorical gap in scientific productivity by making collaborations across different institutions more accessible. Second, the research informs the policy discussion on the social value of academic research in shaping corporate R&D thanks to the fact that Arpanet’s network spanned both universities and corporations.A first goal of the research is to investigate the structural reasons that explain differences in activity in STEM fields. The researchers explore whether exposure to Arpanet, by substantially expanding the pool of potential collaborators outside of one’s own scientific institution, enhanced novelty and productivity of female scientists compared to their male counterparts. The second goal of the project is to inform the current debate on how university-based socially valuable basic science shapes corporate innovation. The project measures the degree of cross-pollination between basic science undertaken at universities and applied science developed by corporate labs through Arpanet. Specifically, the researchers estimate patent production from corporate labs and citation rates from universities related to Arpanet. The user-friendly large-scale datasets on ARPA contracts between 1958 and 1980 will include information on both institutions and individuals and be matched with data from multiple sources including the archives of the Computer History Museum in California, and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Maryland. The project is co-funded by the Science of Science: Discovery, Communication, and Impact program; the Human Networks and Data Science program; and Science and Technology Studies program.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.