Today in most scientific and technical fields more than 90% of research studies and
publications are collaborative often resulting in high-impact research and development of
commercial applications as reflected in patents. Nowadays in many areas of science
collaboration is not a preference but literally a work prerequisite. The purpose of this book
is to review and critique the burgeoning scholarship on research collaboration. The authors
seek to identify gaps in theory and research and identify the ways in which existing research
can be used to improve public policy for collaboration and to improve project-level management
of collaborations using Scientific and Technical Human Capital (STHC) theory as a framework.
Broadly speaking STHC is the sum of scientific and technical and social knowledge skills and
resources embodied in a particular individual. It is both human capital endowments such as
formal education and training and social relations and network ties that bind scientists and
the users of science together. STHC includes the human capital which is the unique set of
resources the individual brings to his or her own work and to collaborative efforts. Generally
human capital models have developed separately from social capital models but in the practice
of science and the career growth of scientists the two are not easily disentangled. Using a
multi-factor model the book explores various factors affecting collaboration outcomes with
particular attention on institutional factors such as industry-university relations and the
rise of large-scale university research centers.
