Scientific studies of the dynamics of science, technology, and innovation (STI) aim to improve our understanding of the structures and processes that facilitate the development of usable knowledge, develop theories of creative processes and their transformation into social and economic outcomes, evaluate the tangible and intangible returns from investments, and examine the impact of policy decisions on STI. Relevant studies are performed by scholars in scientometrics, bibliometrics, information science, physics, economics, sociology and history of science, and many other fields that have vastly different research cultures, approaches, and tools.
At IU, more than 20 IU faculty members from nine departments and six labs/centers associated with IUNI perform STI research in collaboration with U.S. and international collaborators/institutions. The teams conduct cutting-edge research studies using publication, patent, funding, clinical trials, social media and other datasets and using advanced data mining and visualization algorithms (see Figure). A Web of Science Data Enclave was recently set up to provide easy access to more than 56 million documents (journal papers, conference proceedings and books) and their one billion references published in 1900-2013. The Network Workbench is a tool designed for the large-scale analysis, modeling, and visualization of networks. It has been downloaded more than 200,000 times and are used extensively for teaching and research. The NWB was recently deployed on the NSF-supported Jetstream/XSEDE high-performance computing infrastructure making it possible to analyze and visualize large-scale networks. Mathematical, statistical, and computational models using stochastic, agent-based, epidemics, game-theoretic, and network approaches are used to increase our understanding of the structure and dynamics of STI. A specific focus is also put on the communication of STI developments to general audiences via science forecasts and science maps (e.g. the Places & Spaces: Mapping Science exhibit on display in 300+ venues in 25+ countries).
Current STI research addresses foundational questions regarding the creation, dissemination, and adoption of knowledge in collaboration with national and international academic research teams, with whom our trainees are likely to be involved in internships. We apply a systems science framework of vertical integration that aims to capture the structure and dynamics of the STI system at different levels: micro (individuals), meso (organizations/institutions), and macro (world, all of science). Students in the CNS-NRT program would greatly enhance cross-field bridges necessary to tackle such topics as the study of the social dynamics of science, the diffusion of scientific ideas, and the emergence of new disciplines (Börner, Flammini, Menczer, Milojević, Radicchi); using book data to understand the interplay of philosophy and science (Allen, Börner); analyzing, modelling, and enhancing the processes and outcomes of collaborative, team-based research (Börner, Ding, Milojević); studying and facilitating (interdisciplinary) team science and teaching/advising (Hetrick, Sugimoto, Börner); developing unbiased scholarly impact metrics and new models for science funding and peer review (Börner, Menczer, Bollen, Ding), among others.