Downloads

The practice of science in the United States has recently undergone significant change.
This is the result of improved information technology, the growing complexity of research
problems, and policies that favor interdisciplinary research. Using evidence on U.S. universities
we find that knowledge-flows from other universities have increased relative to flows from the
same university and that knowledge-flows from other universities have become more important
for new scientific discoveries compared with same university flows.
In contrast, interdisciplinary knowledge-flows have increased only slightly relative to
same field flows. In engineering, which has been an objective of policies that promote
interdisciplinary research, the share of interdisciplinary flows has increased markedly. But the
share has decreased in several other disciplines. Moreover, the importance of interdisciplinary
flows in new discoveries has stayed about the same, while same field flows have become more
important. While a verdict is yet to be rendered, one interpretation is that interdisciplinary
research is still at an early stage. Thus while interdisciplinary flows have begun to increase, the
resulting discoveries may yet lie in the future.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Microbial ex-situ collections provide tangible use value for private and public companies and
research organizations. The paper addresses the factors that affect conservation of microbial
type strains by collections and their distributional policy. A unique worldwide survey of
microbial collections provides empirical support for the need of a public-private institutional
design to ensure knowledge accumulation in microbial and genetic material used in life science
research. Results suggest that the industry relies on public research infrastructure through
microbial collections. Results also indicate that public research infrastructure is the basis for
distribution of inputs for both basic and applied research.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

This paper uses an evidence-based approach to assess the difficulties faced by developing country
scientists in accessing the scientific literature. I compare backward citations patterns of Swiss and Indian
scientists in a database of 43'150 scientific papers published by scientists from either country in 2007.
Controlling for fields and quality with citing journal fixed effects, I find that Indian scientists (1) have
shorter references lists (2) are more likely to cite articles from open access journals and (3) are less
likely to cite articles from expensive journals. The magnitude of the effects is small which can be
explained by informal file sharing practices among scientists.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Some literature has paid attention to the increase of university-owned patents in many EU countries,
following the same trend in the US. We build an indicator to compare between EU and US university-owned
patents in relative terms and both of them with public research organisations (PRO)-owned patents. We find that
EU universities have almost caught-up US universities and EU PROs in patent ownership. We conclude that the
challenge is to understand the large differences between US and EU PROs. Our econometric estimations also
show that while returns to scale are decreasing for university-owned patents, they are constant for PRO-owned
patents, and illustrate the possibility that none of them are compatible with other alternatives for technology
transfer.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

The outstanding species richness found in the Amazonian rain forest, combined with the gap between
taxonomists based in Brazil and abroad, has lead many scientists to focus their research interests in
Brazilian Amazonia. However, the last years have evidenced a much contrasting development of the
federal regulations controlling the access and transfer of biological material from the region. Here we
present the preliminary findings of a world-wide survey, reporting for both positive and negative
experiences by taxonomists and other researchers when dealing with research permits.

Using a sample of Japanese academic scientists, this study examines behavioral patterns of
scientists especially in material transfer transactions. The results indicate that some
characteristics of scientific fields differentiate scientists’ behavioral patterns. First, in some
fields scientists tend to demand some forms of return when supplying research materials.
They are less likely to provide their materials when their benefits are not clear. This
reciprocal behavior, along with market-oriented one, can impede a proper flow of research
materials. Second, when the reciprocal behaviors become dominant at the field level, it can
aggravate the withholding behaviors of commercially-active scientists. On the other hand,
when commercial activities prevail at the field level, the reciprocal behaviors are
accelerated. Thus, the trend of commercialization and the reciprocal climate can reinforce
each other and lead to further anti-communal consequences. As a potential solution to this,
restriction on commercial income can alleviate withholding behaviors of commerciallyactive
scientists. Third, scientists tend to fulfill material requests from previous
collaborators and colleagues. This tendency is particularly strengthened when network
density is high, and the flow of research materials is restricted inside small networks. These
results imply that we should consider more about field characteristics to design suitable
policy interventions to facilitate scientist cooperation.

The study of social institutions producing and disseminating knowledge has mainly concentrated on
two main concepts: science and technology. This paper examines a recent social institution that
seems not to resemble either of the other two; that is, knowledge-intensive communities, where
individuals freely exchange knowledge through information and communication technology. Using
Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) as an example, I develop a model where this
phenomenon is compared to science and confronted with technology with respect to their ability to
attract researchers. My findings show that knowledge-intensive communities and science have the
same nature, but a different cost/benefit trade-off.

The building blocks of matter and the forces between them were and are of central interest for physicists. The LHC project at CERN will create matter and observe it as it existed very close to the violent developments immediately after the big bang. An order of magnitude closer to the big bang than any other such undertaking scientists hope to solve some of the mysteries of our universe such as the origin of mass, insights into dark matter and more comprehensive theories about matter.
This requires apparatus of unprecedented complexity, invented, elaborated, built, operated and exploited by global collaborations over decades and served by global e-infrastructures, also produced in the context.
Common clear objectives, mutual respect, complete sharing of all available knowledge, know-how, and necessary technologies within the collaborations, critical mass, flat hierarchies, rigorous quality assurance and the pledge of best efforts by the participating scientific institutes and funding agencies are the important ingredients of such collaborations. They are brought to life by a continuous, (self-) structured and “accessible to all” communication at all levels.
The validation of personal contributions and the duration of the process are obvious difficulties for participating and often young scientists.
The collaborative model presented can be applied to other large efforts and great challenges where immediate gainful applications are not the first priority.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.