HuntScanlon features Professor Contractor and Leonardi’s research on how data-intensive technologies afford new ways to access, store, and share information. Their work was named as one of the most important breakthrough in workplace analytics. Click here to read the article.
Contractor’s 2021 AAAS Panel featured in El Mercurio
Link to PDF Version: https://merreader.emol.cl/2021/04/04/content/pages/img/pdf/KQ3UJS83.pdf?gt=125941
Link to Article: https://digital.elmercurio.com/2021/04/04/A/KQ3UJS83
Paper accepted to #SciTS2021!
Sharing a great news – We have a paper accepted to The 12th Annual International Science of Team Science (SciTS) Conference! Congrats to authors Alina Lungeanu, Neelam Modi, Piyush Premchand Kalkute, Leslie DeChurch, and Noshir Contractor.
The conference is virtual and will be live 7-11 June. More information about the conference can be found here.
Please find the title, abstract and citation of the paper below:
Title:Hard to recruit but worth trying: Searching for cross-boundary collaborations in clinical and translational science
Abstract:
Research examining collaboration that produced the greatest scientific breakthroughs highlights boundary-crossing collaboration. By boundaries, we mean disciplines, organizations, cultures, professions, and demographics. Although collaboration has long been important in science, the rapid specialization of knowledge across domains is making collaboration essential. This is especially true in biomedical research.
The National Institutes of Health makes substantial investments to encourage cross-boundary team science in biomedicine. This research project focuses on an exemplar support mechanism, the NIH’s Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program. The CTSA Program is designed to facilitate collaborations between the (laboratory) bench and the (clinical) bedside. In particular, the CTSA’s Pilot Grant program, which provides seed funding to hundreds of teams each year, seeks to incentivize new cross-boundary teams that bring together basic scientists and clinical researchers, junior faculty and experienced mentors, and researchers from different departments or institutions.
While cross-boundary collaboration in team science has demonstrated benefits, research also suggests they are unlikely to form, and when they do, are prone to coordination costs. Our study seeks to advance the Science of Team Science by understanding the assembly of cross-boundary teams who conduct clinical and translational science. We leverage both social network theories and research on teams to answer two research questions: (1) Do funding investments shift team composition in favor of cross-boundary collaboration? and (2) Which cross-boundary combinations are the most effective?
In this study, we use archival data about researchers submitting proposals to one Midwestern University CTSA’s program between the years of 2014 and 2019. We examine 217 proposal submissions, of which 38 were awarded. This results in 369 researchers listed as investigators on proposals, of whom 302 did not have their proposals awarded, 15 had both awarded and un-awarded proposals, and 53 had awarded proposals. We extract demographics, education and employment information, and department affiliation from the university’s internal database. Additionally, we use publication data from the Web of Science database to construct bibliometric information for the entire population of researchers who submitted grant proposals.
We use Exponential Random Graph Models to assess factors influencing the assembly and success of grant proposal teams. Preliminary results show that in general cross-boundary collaboration are not likely among teams submitting proposals, but cross-disciplinary collaborations are more likely among the team proposals that were successful. Thus, even though cross-boundary collaboration is widely promoted, researchers are more likely to consort within their own demographics. However, in order to be successful, scientists would benefit by collaborating with different disciplines.
Citation:
Lungeanu, A., Modi, N., Kalkute, P. P., DeChurch, L. A., & Contractor, N. S. Hard to recruit but worth trying: Searching for cross-boundary collaboration in clinical and translational science. Accepted at the 2021 SciTS Conference.
Noshir Contractor featured on the Science Podcast
In the latest episode of the Science podcast, host Sarah Crespi talks with Noshir Contractor about his AAAS Session on Pairing Teams for, and (Re-) pairing Teams during Long-Duration Space Exploration.
Check out the podcast article here or listen to the recording below.
Paper accepted for publication in the Networks and Spatial Economics (NETS) Journal
Sharing wonderful news! A paper co-authored by Noshir Contractor, and collaborators (Youyi, Yunjian, Zhenghui, Mingxian, Yan, and Wei Chen) was accepted for publication in the Networks and Spatial Economics (NETS) Journal. The paper is titled “Modeling Multi-Year Customers’ Considerations and Choices in China’s Auto Market Using Two-Stage Bipartite Network Analysis.”
Bi, Y., Qiu, Y., Sha, Z., Wang, M., Fu, Y., Contractor, N., & Chen, W. (2021). Modeling Multi-Year Customers’ Considerations and Choices in China’s Auto Market Using Two-Stage Bipartite Network Analysis. Networks and Spatial Economics, doi:10.1007/s11067-021-09526-9
Contractor Presenting Tomorrow (03/23) at the NITIE Research Talk Series
Tomorrow (03/23), Professor Noshir Contractor will present a talk on “People Analytics: Using Digital Exhaust from the Web to Leverage Network Insights in the Workplace” at the National Institute of Industrial Engineering Mumbai Research Talk Series.
His talk will discuss how can we leverage people analytics to mine digital exhaust data created by individuals everyday in their digital transactions and footprint. He will also cover empirical evidence gained from research conducted in corporate enterprises to simulated long duration space exploration
Details of the event can be found below:
Date: 23rd March 2021
Time: 5:30 PM IST (7:00AM CST)
WebEx link : https://lnkd.in/gtpyXVU
New publication alert: Using Trellis software to enhance high-quality large-scale network data collection in the field
We are thrilled to announce that we have another publication in the Social Networks Journal. This time, the article covers the use of a Trellis, a mobile platform created by the Human Nature Lab at the Yale Institute for NEtwork Science to collect social network data in hard-to-reach communities.
Congratulations to Research Assistant Professor Alina Lungeanu and our Lab Director Professor Noshir Contractor!
Citation:
Lungeanu, A., McKnight, M., Negron, R., Munar, W., Christakis, N. A., & Contractor, N. S. (2021). Using Trellis software to enhance high-quality large-scale network data collection in the field. Social Networks, 66:171-184. doi:10.1016/j.socnet.2021.02.007
Our new RAD video is up!
Are you familiar with predictive analytics? Have you ever wondered how it can be used to better understand employees within an organization? Check out Relational Analytics Dashboard (RAD), a software we developed that can be used as a decision-aid for important managerial decisions. We’ve just launched our latest RAD Overview video on our Youtube Channel. Don’t forget to check them out!
Noshir Contractor featured in Northwestern’s Dialogue Magazine
Late last year, the International Communication Association (ICA) announced Professor Noshir Contractor as ICA’s President-Elect-Select. Read more about Noshir’s journey and take on ICA at Northwestern University School of Communication’s Winter 2021 Dialogue here.
Contractor presented at the IAS International Roundtable on Computational Social Science
This week, Noshir Contractor presented a talk at the Institute for Analytical Sociology International Roundtable on Computational Social Science. The title of his talk is People Analytics: Understanding & Enabling the Future of Work on Earth — and in Space.
If you missed the talk, watch a recording of it here: https://lnkd.in/ezp2uvQ