Quantifying the Hierarchical Scales of Scientists' Mobility Patterns Across Institutions, Cities, Countries, and Continents

Centrala begrepp

Scientists' mobility patterns are shaped by hierarchical geographical divisions, with distinct nested mobility patterns observed within and across cities, countries, and continents.

Sammanfattning

This study aims to understand the role of geographical scales on scientists' mobility patterns across different administrative regions. The researchers analyzed the career trajectories of 2.03 million scientists from 1960 to 2021, spanning institutions, cities, countries, and continents.

Key highlights:

• Scientists' internal mobility within regions (cities, countries, continents) is greater than their external movements to other regions, indicating the presence of hierarchical scales in scientific mobility.
• The researchers developed the SMART (Scientific Mobility and Administrative Regions) model to capture the intricate, multiscale patterns of scientists' geographical mobilities. The model estimates the attractiveness of each region and the propensity for mobility between regions within nested administrative divisions.
• The results reveal distinct nested hierarchies of regional scales and the dynamic of scientists' relocation patterns. For instance, Asia's attractiveness has steadily increased over time, while Europe's attractiveness has declined since the 2000s.
• Scientists from different home countries exhibit varying propensities to move across different geographical scales, with US-based scientists more inclined towards international mobility, while European and Asian scientists tend to prefer intra-country movements.
• The attractiveness of regions is positively correlated with the number of institutions, publications, and researchers within the region, suggesting that regions with higher research capacity and scale have a greater ability to attract external scholars.

Statistik

"The large-scale database, OpenAlex, provides detailed records of publications, journals, authors, and institutions, offering a unique opportunity to quantitatively analyze the mobility patterns of scientists."
"We extracted records of scientists' location mobility records from the OpenAlex database, which includes papers published from 1960 to 2022 and encompasses details on authors, institutions, and publication dates, covering a total of 75,560 academic institutions."

Citat

"Scientists' mobility patterns are shaped by the hierarchical divisions of geography."
"Achieving a thorough understanding of the scientific mobility patterns at various scales, and comprehending the influence of geographical hierarchical scales on such mobility, is crucial."
"The attractiveness of the nested regions k is denoted as a(k). Attractiveness a(kl) represents the probability of visiting region kl among all regions nested within kl+1."

Viktiga insikter från

Quantifying the hierarchical scales of scientists'mobility

by Yurui Huang,... på arxiv.org 04-03-2024

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2401.06794.pdf

Djupare frågor

How do the findings of this study on scientists' mobility patterns compare to those observed in other professional fields or industries?

The findings of this study on scientists' mobility patterns align with observations in other professional fields and industries to some extent. In various industries, professionals tend to prefer local or domestic movements over international relocations due to factors like familiarity, language, and cultural similarities. This preference for proximity is consistent with the study's discovery that scientists exhibit a higher propensity for mobility within the same city, country, or continent. Additionally, the study's emphasis on the hierarchical scales of mobility and the influence of administrative divisions on career decisions can be paralleled in other sectors where organizational structures and geographical factors play a significant role in mobility patterns.

What are the potential unintended consequences of policies and programs aimed at attracting scientific talent, and how can they be mitigated?

Policies and programs designed to attract scientific talent may inadvertently lead to brain drain in certain regions or countries, where the outflow of skilled professionals could impact local research and innovation capabilities. This can create disparities in scientific advancement and hinder the development of a robust scientific ecosystem. To mitigate these unintended consequences, policymakers should focus on creating a balanced approach that not only attracts talent but also invests in retaining and nurturing local talent. Providing incentives for knowledge transfer, fostering collaboration between local and international researchers, and promoting a supportive research environment can help mitigate the negative effects of brain drain.

How might advancements in virtual collaboration and remote work impact the future of scientists' geographical mobility patterns?

Advancements in virtual collaboration and remote work are likely to reshape scientists' geographical mobility patterns in the future. With the increasing acceptance and effectiveness of remote work tools and virtual collaboration platforms, scientists may find it easier to collaborate with colleagues from different locations without the need for physical relocation. This could lead to a decrease in the necessity for frequent long-distance movements, especially for short-term collaborations or meetings. Scientists may choose to work remotely or engage in virtual research projects, reducing the need for extensive geographical mobility. However, while virtual collaboration offers flexibility and efficiency, in-person interactions and physical presence still hold value in certain scientific endeavors, particularly those requiring hands-on experimentation or fieldwork.