Funding, Grants & Awards

Penn State Researcher Wins Funds To Apply Big Data to 'Science of Science'

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 02/05/16

A researcher at Pennsylvania State University has won a grant to use big data analysis to explore the "science of science."

Dashun Wang, assistant professor of information sciences and technology at Penn State, was a Young Investigator  Research Program (YIP) grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) for is proposal, "Modeling and Predicting Individual Scientific Impact."

Wang's research is focused on "the study of quantitative patterns obtained from modeling and data-driven metrics to understand how science works," according to a news release. "Using the massive amounts of data that scientific studies produce, Wang's research is asking what a deep knowledge of data can tell us about the business of science."

The answers, according to Wang, will be useful to program directors, policy makers and other key stakeholders making decisions such as what research to fund and who is the right fit for a given project.

"Ultimately, this research not only helps further our fundamental understanding of complex interconnected systems, it will also be useful for administrators and policy and decision makers, to help set priorities and make more informed decisions," said Wang in a news release. "In terms of research, we are at the threshold of new and exciting work these past few years."

Wang's research is among 56 projects selected by the AFOSR in this round of YIP grants. Collectively, the cohort shares $20.6 million in funding as a result of the awards. More information about YIP grants, including a complete list of grantees, is available at wpafb.af.mil.