SARS病原的发现过程及其对中国科学家的启示

中国是SARS的最早发现地和最严重灾区;中国科学家最早展开SARS病原体的研究。然而,中国科学家却未能先于外国科学家及时发现SARS的病原体,而且这不是由于实验装备落后所致。SARS病原体的发现过程给予中国科学家三点方法论的启示:(1)"看见"不是"发现";(2)科学研究应贯彻逻辑理性与经验实证的基本精神;(3)科学研究的新进展要及时公布。     

Data sharing in low-resourced research environments

‘Open data’ has recently emerged as a label for renewed attempts to promote scientific exchange. As part of such efforts, the posting of data online is often portrayed as commonly beneficial: individual scientists accrue greater prominence while at the same time fostering communal knowledge. Yet, how scientists in non-Western research settings assess such calls for openness has been the subject of little empirical study. Based on extended fieldwork with biochemistry laboratories in sub-Sahara Africa, this paper examines a variety of reasons why scientists opt for closure over openness with regard to their own data. We argue that the heterogeneity of research environments calls into question many of the presumptions made as part of open data. Inequalities in research environments can mean that moves towards sharing create binds and dilemmas. These observations suggest that those promoting openness must critically examine current research governance and funding systems that continue to perpetuate disparities. The paper proposes an innovative approach to facilitating openness: coupling the sharing of data with enabling scientists to redress their day-to-day research environment demands. Such a starting basis provides an alternative but vital link between the aspirations for science aired today as part of international discussions and the daily challenges of undertaking research in low-resourced environments.     

Economic implications of alternative publishing models: authors' response

When the work and reputation of scientists suffer ritual degradation, a range of tactics can be deployed to resist and rework the psychological and social impacts. Five key resistance tactics to degradation in science are revealing degradation rituals, redeeming the reputation of the targeted scientist, reframing the degradation as unfair, redirecting attention to other domains, and refusing to cooperate with the rituals. These tactics are illustrated through three case studies of scientists targeted for conducting research threatening to the interests of powerful groups.     

Country-level technological disparities,market feedback,and scientists’ choice of technologies

This study investigates whether country-level technological disparities influence individual scientists’ choice of research agenda and, if so, how the effect of country-level technological disparities on individuals’ research activities differs before and after technology commercialization. To address these research questions, we use research proceedings published from the International Electric Vehicle Symposium (EVS) from 1990 to 2009. We find that a country’s technological capabilities tend to prevent its scientists from studying electric vehicles (defined as a disruptive technology) but encourage them to study hybrid vehicles (defined as a sustaining technology) before electric and hybrid vehicles are launched in the automobile market. We also find that a country’s technological capabilities do not subsequently help its scientists shift their research activities to the technologies that have received positive initial feedback from automobile markets.     

Revisiting the exploration-exploitation behavior of scholars' research topic selection: Evidence from a large-scale bibliographic database

The research on studying exploration-exploitation behavior in topic choice has consistently been the focus of a great deal of attention. In this study, we propose five novel research strategies under exploration and exploitation based on the general but significant features of topics, and present a series of metrics to quantify and identify these strategies. We analyze the relationship between scientists’ research performance (i.e., productivity and impact) and their preference for different strategies, and examine the evolution of their preference in scientific careers through comprehensive statistical analysis. We employ a MAG dataset as our data source, and select about 30 million scientists from the computer science filed and their publications as our analysis objects. Our empirical analysis shows that productive and impactful scientists tend to follow academic frontiers, study diverse topics, explore emerging topics and combinatorial innovation, but exploit mature topics less often. We also figure out the potential reasons for the phenomenon. In addition, we find that successful scientists prefer to execute exploratory research strategies from the beginning of their career, and young scientists seem to be more creative. Our research may help researchers deeply understand topic selection behavior, and therefore provide enlightenment for training scientists and give advice for funding allocation as well as research and development policy formulation.     

中国电子显微学领域分层结构的社会性别研究

科学领域中"女性相对缺席"已成为一种普遍现象,但是各学科之间又存在"缺席程度"的差异。为了丰富对科学女性研究的多样性,本文选择中国电子显微学中科学女性的发展状况进行研究。通过对该领域学会会员的构成、科学产出、基金资助几个方面进行性别分层的考察,并从社会性别视角进行了分析,提出实验室中性别文化的存在和科学活动中"理论研究"与"实验操作"的二分是造成女性在电子显微学中比例较高,而在分层结构中位置较低的主要原因。     

Academic scientists’ affiliation with university research centers: Selection dynamics

University research centers have been institutionalized as a part of the science policy repertoire committed to strategic use of science and technology. Based on a representative sample of academic scientists and engineers in American research universities, this study investigates the selection dynamics, attempting to unfold the determinants of department-affiliated faculty members to be center affiliates. The findings suggest that university research centers select their affiliates on the basis of individual scientific and technical human capital. Scientists from prestigious departments are more likely to be center affiliates, so are prolific scientists, former postdoctoral scholars and the elder cohorts. In the meantime, university research centers are able to overcome the incentive incongruity with academic departments, as is evidenced by a higher likelihood among junior scientists to secure center connections. Dedicated to diversity and equity, university research centers provide a level playing field for women, minority and foreign-born scientists. The study concludes with a discussion of the scientific and technical human capital theory and policy implications in the science enterprise.     

以完善人才计划为抓手 推进我国人才强国建设

我们正处在一个科学技术高速发展、科技创新深刻改变社会组织形式的新时代。在科技创新活动中,人才是最重要的资源,培养和吸引更多高水平创新人才是我国赢得未来发展先机的重中之重。目前我国人才计划的总体设置仍存在不足,使许多青年人才不得不将本应用于科研的精力分散到追逐以稀缺人才"帽子"所代表的科研资源上去。因此,应以完善人才计划为抓手,一方面扩大以"千人计划""万人计划"为代表的高层次人才计划支持数量,并更多支持中青年科学家;另一方面,要在尊重科学研究规律的基础上改革科研资助模式,形成以项目为基础和以人才为基础并重的科研资助模式,实现对科研人员发展各阶段的全链条支持。尤其应该注重对各类人才计划在国家层面的统筹规划、专业评审和后期考核,避免不合理的重复支持,抑制只认"帽子"、不重产出的浮躁风气。以完善人才计划为抓手推动我国人才建设工作健康发展,对于改善科技领军人才匮乏的现状和改进人才管理制度具有重大意义,将为建设世界科技强国、实现中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦提供人才保障。     

加强环境与健康研究 助力美丽中国建设

经济快速发展导致的环境污染问题在我国日益突出，同时研究表明多种疾病与环境污染密切相关。理论和方法创新是我国环境与健康研究的挑战和机遇，需要不断聚集和吸引优秀科学家形成集群优势持续攻关，探寻环境致病的原因和机理，为我国区域高发疾病环境污染寻因，以及为相关健康保障技术的研发奠定理论与方法基础。     

山中伸弥的“论文-专利”二元行为模式分析

一般认为,科学家尤其是诺贝尔奖科学家科学研究工作成果的主要发表形式是科学论文。但近年来的趋势表明,诺贝尔奖科学家也在大量地申请专利,即便是那些看起来从事基础科学研究的学者,也表现出强烈的专利意识。日本科学家、2012年诺贝尔生理或医学奖得主山中伸弥是其中典型的代表。山中伸弥"论文—专利"行为模式,存在着明显的逻辑合理性和行动连续性,值得我国科学家学习。作为驱动力量的日本科技政策,也值得我国科技政策制定者借鉴参考。     

Interdisciplinary research and the societal visibility of science: The advantages of spanning multiple and distant scientific fields

Science policy discourse often encourages interdisciplinary research as an approach that enhances the potential of science to produce breakthrough discoveries and solutions to real-world, complex problems. While there is a large body of research examining the relationship between interdisciplinarity and scientific discovery, there is comparatively limited evidence on and understanding of the connection between interdisciplinarity and the generation of scientific findings that address societal problems. Drawing on a large-scale survey, we investigate whether scientists who conduct interdisciplinary research are more likely to generate scientific findings with high societal visibility - that is, research findings that attract the attention of non-academic audiences, as measured by mentions to scientific articles in blogs, news media and policy documents. Our findings provide support for the idea that two facets of interdisciplinarity - variety and disparity - are associated positively with societal visibility. Our results show, also, that the interplay between these two facets of interdisciplinarity has a systematic positive and significant association with societal visibility, suggesting a reinforcing effect of spanning multiple and distant scientific fields. Finally, we find support for the contingent role of scientists' collaboration with non-academic actors, suggesting that the positive association between interdisciplinary research and societal visibility is particularly strong among scientists who collaborate with actors outside academia. We argue that this study provides useful insights for science policy oriented to fostering the scientific and societal relevance of publicly funded research.     

Informal scientific communication in the agricultural sciences2

This analysis of informal scientific communication emphasizes the communication which occurs among public sector agricultural researchers. While the formal channels and the informal channels constitute the two mutually dependent elements of this communication, the importance of the informal channels is often ignored. The informal communication network is examined utilizing a survey of randomly sampled U.S. agricultural scientists listed in the Current Research Information System (N = 1431). Particular individuals in the informal communication network are viewed as important sources of influence for a variety of research decisions such as choice of problem, methods, key concepts and theoretical orientation. However, informal scientific communication appears to occur infrequently, and to be primarily limited to one's own discipline. Scientists report communication with scientists outside their department, clients and extension staff is limited to less than once a month. In addition, the nature and frequency of the informal scientific communication is highly related to the criteria utilized in establishing research agendas and the publication products. However, the use of and reliance on particular channels of communication may affect scientists and their research in different and sometimes contradictory ways. Consequently, it is important to view the informal scientific communication and the processes and products of science as inextricably bound together in a mutually interdependent social system.     

Intellectual capital or signal? The effects of scientists on alliance formation in knowledge-intensive industries

Hiring employees with advanced education, training, and experience has been a prevalent human resource practice in dynamic science-based industries, and a growing body of literature has demonstrated the importance of scientists in such fields. Little research has attempted to distinguish the functional from the symbolic roles of scientists, however. We develop an integrative theoretical framework to separate the productive and legitimating effects of scientists on strategic alliance formation of firms. Results from a longitudinal analysis of more than 300 U.S. biotechnology firms between 1988 and 1999 suggest a positive relationship between ratio of scientists and R&D alliance partners as well as a positive relationship with finance alliance partners. Scientists influence partner attraction more strongly for firms that are less-well-connected, and they become less prominent in fostering finance ties as the industry practice of partnership becomes more institutionalized. We conclude that scientists serve more than just a research function in knowledge-intensive industries. Implications for building interorganizational networks and managing human resources in such industries are discussed.     

Academic careers, patents, and productivity: industry experience as scientific and technical human capital

We examine career patterns within the industrial, academic, and governmental sectors and their relation to the publication and patent productivity of scientists and engineers working at university-based research centers in the United States. We hypothesize that among university scientists, intersectoral changes in jobs throughout the career provide access to new social networks and scientific and technical human capital, which will result in higher productivity. For this study, the curriculum vitae of 1200 research scientists and engineers were collected and coded. In addition, patent data were collected from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The overarching conclusion from our analysis is that the academic scientists’ and engineers’ research careers we studied are quite different than characterized in the research productivity literature that is a decade or more old. The wave of center creation activity that began in the early 1980s and continues today has resulted not only in greater ties between universities and industry, but also markedly different academic careers.     

大力培养使用战略科学家，夯实国家战略科技力量

培养使用战略科学家是优化战略科技领域布局和改善战略科技资源配置的关键,夯实国家战略科技力量迫切需要大力培养使用战略科学家。文章阐释了战略科学家的基本特征,认为战略科学家应具有卓越的科研能力和突出的跨学科理解能力,卓越的科技前瞻能力和敏锐的辨识能力,卓越的组织攻关能力和杰出的领导力,以及浓厚的爱国情怀和强烈的使命担当。文章研究认为大的科研平台、大的发展趋势和大的科研任务是成就战略科学家的关键;崇尚创新、倡导包容和多元文化、重视教育和自主科研、强化基础研究是引导、培养和支持战略科学家成长的基础。战略科学家是在长期的科研实践中不断锤炼成长起来的,未来要推进战略科学家培养使用制度建设,构建体系化的战略科学家培养使用制度,健全全生命周期的战略科学家成长支撑体系。     

明星科学家能否提升转制科研院所的双重绩效？—以广东省为例

科研院所改革的重点在于加快科技成果转化,明星科学家成为影响改制目标实现的“第一要素”。以广东省科研院所改革为背景,本文探索了明星科学家在组织创新与经济效益中的作用效果,并分析了项目式与平台式改革模式的调节效果,研究发现：明星科学家对组织双重绩效均有显著的正向影响,并且对创新绩效的促进效果高于经济绩效；政府财政科技项目在明星科学家与创新绩效关系中起正向调节作用,而创新平台在明星科学家与科研院所创新绩效、经济绩效关系中均起到正向调节作用。研究结论将为科研院所的人才体系优化与资助模式改革提供参考依据。     

我国公共农业科研机构科研激励制度调查分析——以1338名农业科学家为例

 根据问卷调查的数据对我国公共农业科研机构的科研激励制度进行了描述,讨论了科学家对公共农业科研机构利益目标的认知,并从职称晋升、学术奖励、绩效薪酬等方面分析了现行科研激励制度对科学家的影响。研究表明争取科研经费是得到样本科学家普遍认同的公共农业科研机构利益目标,为农户服务则被样本科学家认为是公共农业科研机构最重要的价值使命。同时现行科研激励制度并没有有效促进科学家学术水平的提高,在学术评审中“打招呼”等潜规则的存在则严重影响了科学家的学术信心。     

Technological Change and the Form of Science Research Teams: Dealing with the Digitals

Abstract

During the late 1990s, photography moved from being a primarily analogue medium to being an almost entirely digital medium. The development of digital cameras and software for working with photographs has led to the wholesale computerization of photography in many different domains. This paper reports on the findings of a study of the social and organizational changes experienced by marine mammal scientists who have changed from film‐based photography to digital photography. This technical change might be viewed as a simple substitution of a digital for an analogue camera, with little significance for how scientists do what they do. However, a perspective anchored in social informatics leads to the expectation that such incremental technical changes can have significant outcomes, changing not only how scientists work, but also the outcomes of their research. This present study finds that key consequences of this change have been the composition of the personnel working on the scientific research teams for marine biology projects and the ways in which these scientists allocate their time.     

Pas de deux of electricity and magnetism: an interview with Sang-Wook Cheong

Materials can be ferroelectric, having a spontaneous electric polarization that can be reversed by an external electric field, or they can be ferromagnetic, exhibiting spontaneous magnetization that is switchable by an applied magnetic field. However, until the 1960s, scientists did not expect that these two ferroic properties could co-exist in a single material. Today, materials exhibiting more than one of the primary ferroic properties are called multiferroics. Here, the primary ferroic properties can be ferroelectricity, ferromagnetism, antiferromagnetism, ferroelasticity, ferrotoroidicity or others. Basically, the multiferroic effect originates from the simultaneous breaking of space inversion and time-reversal symmetries. Multiferroics can be imagined as a pas de deux of electricity and magnetism. Recently, National Science Review interviewed Professor Sang-Wook Cheong from Rutgers University, who is one of the pioneering scientists in this field. Cheong talked about the multiferroics field, which has been fast developing since the early 2000s. His introductions and opinions on diverse multiferroic materials and potential multiferroic devices, as well as future research directions, may provide a useful resource for researchers both inside and outside the multiferroic research field.     

The fire ant wars. Nature and science in the pesticide controversies of the late twentieth century

This essay uses an approach borrowed from environmental history to investigate the interaction of science and nature in a late twentieth-century controversy. This debate, over the proper response to fire ants that had been imported into the American South accidentally and then spread across the region, pitted Rachel Carson and loosely federated groups of conservationists, scientists, and citizens against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The analysis falls into three sections: an examination of the natural history of the ants; an examination of the views of the competing factions; and an examination of how those views, transformed into action, affected the natural world. Both sides saw the ants in terms of a constellation of beliefs about the relationship between nature, science, and democracy. As various ideas were put into play, they interacted with the natural history of the insects in unexpected ways--and with consequences for the cultural authority of the antagonists. Combining insights from the history of science and environmental history helps explain how scientists gain and lose cultural authority and, more fundamentally, allows for an examination of how nature can be integrated into the history of science.