A network approach for the scientific collaboration in the European Framework Programs

TL;DR

This paper analyzes collaboration networks in European Framework Programs FP5 and FP6, revealing scale-free properties, changes in collaboration patterns, and identifying key country hubs to inform future research funding strategies.

Contribution

It provides a detailed network analysis of European research collaborations, introduces a measure for country hub importance, and compares FP5 and FP6 networks across various dimensions.

Findings

Networks exhibit scale-free behavior.

Average number of partners per institution increased from FP5 to FP6.

Identified key country hubs using MST analysis.

Abstract

We construct the networks of collaboration between partners for projects carried out with the support of European Commission Framework Programs FP5 and FP6. We analyze in detail these networks, not only in terms of total number of projects, but also for the different tools employed, the different geographical partitions, and the different thematic areas. For all cases we find a scale free behavior, as expected for such social networks, and also reported in the literature. In comparing FP5 to FP6, we show that despite a decrease in the number of signed contracts, and the total number of unique partners, there is an increase in the average number of collaborative partners per institution. Furthermore, we establish a measure for the central role (hub) for each country, by using the Minimum Spanning Tree (MST), which we construct in detail for each thematic area (e.g. Informatics, Nanoscience, Life Sciences, etc.). The importance of these network hubs is highlighted, as this information can be used by policy planners in designing future research plans regarding the distribution of available funds.