Knowledge, Networks, and the Productivity of Scientists and Engineers: Individual Research Histories and Social Capital

理解科学活动越来越需要更深入地了解研究团队之间的相互作用、技能形成的动力、研究生产力和知识的传播。该项目创建和分析关于科学家个人研究历史的数据。特别关注研究历史对生产率的影响，以及经济和社会网络在六个领域的作用，这六个领域占科学研究的大部分：生物、化学、计算机科学、工程、医学和物理。智力优势：该提案在三个方面促进了人们的理解。首先是个人研究历史和社会资本对个人研究人员知识创造的比较作用，特别是对流动性的关注。第二个是促成学术计算机科学商业化的因素。第三个问题涉及社交网络在科学机构生产力中的作用。在探索社交网络的变化时，这项工作建立在新的研究基础上，并利用了网络和网络基础设施之间的互补性。更广泛的影响：这项研究通过向国家经济研究局和RPI的研究人员提供数据，为科学政策数据基础设施做出了贡献。还有一个重要组成部分，涉及对学生助理和在社交网络上写作的高级学生的培训。最后，研究结果加强了对不断变化的科学实践及其与公共政策，特别是针对信息技术的政策的互动的理解。

Understanding scientific activity increasingly requires advancing understanding of the interactions of research teams, the dynamics of skill formation, research productivity, and the transmission of knowledge. This project creates and analyzes data on research histories of individual scientists. The particular focus is on the effect of research histories on productivity, and on the role of economic and social networks in six fields which account for the majority of scientific research: biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, medicine, and physics. Intellectual Merit: The proposal advances understanding in three areas. The first is the comparative role of individual research histories and social capital on knowledge creation by individual researchers, particularly focusing on mobility. The second is the factors contributing to the commercialization of academic computer science. The third concerns the role of social networks in the productivity of scientific institutions. In exploring changes in social networks, the work builds on new research and exploits the complementarity between networks and cyber infrastructure. Broader impacts: The research contributes to the science of science policy data infrastructure by making data available to researchers at the National Bureau of Economic Research and at RPI. There is also a substantial component which addresses the training of student assistants and advanced students writing on social networks. Finally, the results of the research strengthen understanding of the changing practice of science and its interactions with public policy, especially policy towards information technology.