Off the beaten path: What drives scientists’ entry into new fields?

Given that prestige sits at the core of the scientific reward system and that venturing into unknown territory carries substantial risk, scientists don’t take the decision to enter a new field lightly. This paper analyses the individual and contextual factors associated with entry into new-to-the-researcher fields of research. Using a panel of researchers in biomedical sciences and engineering from a large European research university, we find that productivity affects new field entry as such, but is not associated with entry into fields that are very distant to one’s current expertise. Such ‘long jumps’ are more likely to be made by talented, rather than merely productive researchers. Scientists in more senior ranks, with larger co-author networks and collaborating with PhD students are more likely to enter fields but these factors don’t represent an additional push to enter very remote fields. Finally, accounting for its endogeneity, we find that funding does not make new field entry more likely but, conditional on entry supports ‘long jumps’.