Article

Does science advance one funeral at a time?

Christian Fons-Rosen, Pompeu Fabra University

The results of this study contribute evidence to the longstanding debate on how individuals, institutions, and incentives influence the evolution of science. The research was based on data on the lives and careers of elite scientists who died prematurely. These data permit calculation of how, following early death, the production of knowledge in their fields of specialisation changes.
Key points
  • 1
       When a person carrying out high-level research dies early, a proliferation of articles are produced in their field, written by people who had never collaborated with them.
  • 2
       This proliferation is not due to any reorganisation of leadership in the field, but to the entry of new scientists from outside of it. The data indicated that the increase in these new contributions is concentrated around essential questions, but they include more ideas from environments to which the deceased scientist had not contributed.
  • 3
       The new articles offer relevant contributions, judging by their long-term impact in terms of citations received.
  • 4
       The entry of new actors is of a lower impact when the legacy of a compact network of collaborators is capable of maintaining barriers to entry, whether through intellectual or social barriers.
  • 5
       Reticence towards considering and incorporating avant-garde ideas only declines when actors in a research field are willing to accept and back new ideas.
The death of a star scientist and publication activity
one+page+eng.png

Five years after the death of star scientists, their collaborators publish around 40% less. During the same time period, the number of publications by non-collaborators increases by an average of 8%. Given that the number of non-collaborators is much higher than the number of collaborators, the activity of non-collaborators ends up compensating the lesser productivity of the collaborators, and the effect increases over the course of the years. We observe a similar behaviour if instead of scientific publications, we focus on the destination of scientific funding: following the death of an eminent researcher, scientists from outside the field in which the deceased scientists worked not only publish with more impetus, but also receive more funding.

Classification

Tags

Subject areas

Related content

Article

The STEM field is failing to attract female talent

In Spain, only 16% of STEM professionals are women. We analyse this gender gap.

Article

Evolution of science and technology in Portugal and Spain

The European Union set a target for the business sector to invest 2% of GDP in R&D. How is the convergence of Spain and Portugal towards this goal progressing?

Best practices

The use of public engagement for technological innovation

What is society’s opinion regarding the possible impacts of science and technology? Establishing citizen participation mechanisms is necessary to generate confidence and detect points for improvement.

Infodata

Expenditure on R&D by sectors

In 2019, the percentage of total public spending assigned to R&D was 1.24% in Spain and 0.82% in Portugal, both below the EU-27 average.

Infodata

Innovative companies and business cooperation on R&D activities

In Spain and Portugal, the proportion of innovative companies, and the degree to which these collaborate with other companies and organisations, is below the EU-27 average.

You may also find interesting

How Spanish and Portuguese young people use their mobile phones

Article

How Spanish and Portuguese young people use their mobile phones


Science

Young people from both countries use their mobile phones in similar ways. However, slight differences exist between their profiles.

Do Internet usage and education play a role in health inequalities? A study of the Spanish population aged 50-79

Article

Do Internet usage and education play a role in health inequalities? A study of the Spanish population aged 50-79


Science

Can the Internet help us to maintain good health? According to this study, improving the health literacy of the population and providing them with access to the internet could help reduce health inequalities.

Attachment Style: emotional bonds condition mobile use among young people and their relational satisfaction

Article

Attachment Style: emotional bonds condition mobile use among young people and their relational satisfaction


Science

Young people who have established secure affective and emotional connections primarily use their phones to communicate and socialise. But what about those who use them to escape reality?