Once the pioneer has established an area or technology, researchers are also more likely to move into this new, stimulating environment. The question is, then, how many scientists does a region need to hire so that other scientists find its environment attractive and join its institutions? Or in technical terms: there is no critical mass to start and carry on a new research field successfully. While first movers may have an advantage in some contexts, it is not necessarily impossible for late-comers to catch up or even surpass first movers in a scientific field." "In this way, we analyzed data spanning several decades with information on millions of publications, 20 million researchers and more than 98,000 research institutions worldwide," Servedio states.

Source: The Nation December 30, 2022 19:11 UTC