Incorporating Network Analysis Into Evaluation Of 'Big Science' Projects: An Assessment Of The Canadian Light Source Synchrotron

Major investments in science and technology are designed to generate something beyond the science itself. Government-funded big science infrastructure, exemplified by the Canadian Light Source Synchrotron (CLS), offers places for scientists both to conduct their scientific investigations and to do things that more directly add economic and social value. Scientists, however, do not work in isolation. They are usually part of larger networks or communities that can generate bigger net effects for the affiliated individuals and institutions. Understanding the structure and scale of these scientific networks provides insights into the impacts of big science on the scientific community (locally and globally) and the potential opportunities that may be realised. This study applies the social network analysis (SNA) methodology and combines it with a survey and statistical analysis to assess the network of scholars attached to the CLS, to explore the evolution of collaborative behaviour over time and to explore the relationships between the network and specific output and outcome variables. The study concludes that the CLS has generated a large and growing scholarly community; at the core of the network is a group of highly linked and engaged scholars who have the aptitude and experience to extend their research results into application and use.