Capturing the collaboration intensity of research institutions using social network analysis

Abstract

The relevance of collaborations among scientists is growing steadily in order to address complex research problems. On the basis of research institutions this trend of increased collaboration is being shaped through interdisciplinary research centres, institutional networks or centres of excellence. The identification and promotion of collaborative research within the own university has become a crucial part of strategic planning. Using CRIS-Data as enrichment for decision-making seems to be a practical and obvious approach since in this environment research information across all disciplines are getting consolidated explicitly. In the field of scientometrics examining research collaboration with methods taken from the social network analysis is widely accepted. Instead of analysing the macro-level of science, this paper deals with the potential benefits of using methods from the social network analysis in providing quantitative information about the intra-organizational collaboration for purposes of research management.