Citation analysis of Ph.D. theses with data from Scopus and Google Books

This study investigates the potential of citation analysis of Ph.D. theses to obtain valid and useful early career performance indicators at the level of university departments. For German theses from 1996 to 2018 the suitability of citation data from Scopus and Google Books is studied and found to be sufficient to obtain quantitative estimates of early career researchers’ performance at departmental level in terms of scientific recognition and use of their dissertations as reflected in citations. Scopus and Google Books citations complement each other and have little overlap. Individual theses’ citation counts are much higher for those awarded a dissertation award than others. Departmental level estimates of citation impact agree reasonably well with panel committee peer review ratings of early career researcher support.

     

A profile analysis of the top Brazilian Computer Science graduate programs

Analyzing the research productivity of a country, an academic institution or even a single research group contributes to understand how science evolves and discovers new research perspectives, since such efforts usually reveal key aspects that can be improved, avoided or even applied to other contexts. In this article, we present a detailed analysis of the top Brazilian Computer Science graduate programs. The analysis involves profile data on faculty members (e.g., career length and number of mentored students) and on the quality of their research efforts, assessed using the quality of their publications and collaboration patterns. The objective is to uncover factors that explain the strengths and weaknesses of graduate programs. Results show that the highest ranked programs include more experienced faculty members, who have mentored more Ph.D. students. We also show that programs target distinct publication venues, with the best ranked ones focusing on higher quality conferences and journals. By analyzing collaboration patterns, we show that intra-program relationships occur quite naturally whereas inter-program ones are still very incipient.     

Engineering Ph.D. Studies in Portugal: Process and Product

This brief research note is based on data that were gathered as part of the Human Capital and Mobility project “Postgraduate Education and Training in the European Community,” a research network directed by Robert Burgess of CEDAR—University of Warwick involving eight countries. The case study reported here focuses on the engineering doctorate in Portugal, with specific attention to the different paths taken by Ph.D. students, the research process context, supervision patterns, and present uses of an engineering Ph.D. degree in Portugal.     

Impact of SERC's funding on research in chemical sciences

The paper assesses impact of Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) funding in chemical sciences during 1976–1989 using scientometric techniques. Other indicators like awards won, fellowship to prestigious academies, membership to editorial boards received by the project investigators, Ph.D. degrees awarded, collaborations established and new courses introduced due to SERC funding have also been analyzed. The study indicates that activity index of research out put in various frontier areas of chemical sciences have gone up despite a decrease in Indian activity index in these areas. The growth pattern of papers for “Organometallic and Organometalloidal Compounds” are similar for India and world. Contribution of SERC's project investigators in high impact factor (≥2) journals and the citations received by the papers published by them are higher than Indian contributions in chemical sciences. The SERC funding has resulted in a three fold increase in the number of Ph.D. degrees awarded in chemical sciences and SERC project investigators have won many prestigious awards, fellowship to academies and membership of the editorial board of the journals. The SERC funded research has also resulted in new courses at various universities.     

An Integrated Approach to Graduate Education in Manufacturing Systems—The U.T. Dallas Model

A graduate program in Manufacturing Systems has been designed by the faculty of the University of Texas at Dallas and a fourteen member industrial advisory committee using a top-down approach. By establishing an independently administered program with it's own faculty, it was possible to design “de-novo” a highly integrated set of new courses in a structured curriculum built around the central theme of the design of computer supported/controlled systems for engineering and manufacturing. There are nine required courses organized under the categories of manufacturing processes, process control, computer systems, product design, manufacturing systems, and business principles. A manufacturing project caps off the curriculum.     

Research production in the arts and humanities

This study explored the main factors influencing the research production in the arts and humanities. A questionnaire was constructed to identify and assess the effects of various factors important for the productivity of the individual researcher as reflected in the number of papers and Ph.D.'s produced. First, respondents were given the opportunity to list in their own words a number of important factors influencing research productivity. Secondly, they evaluated on rating scales the importance of a number of pre-selected factors (e.g. individual characteristics, organisational features, external factors) assumed to be important for research productivity. 50% of a sample of 256 researchers in the humanities responded. Ratings were grouped to produce a number of indices and these were subject to multiple regression analyses. The main results showed that the production of papers was predicted by the number of Ph.D.'s produced and inversely related to the importance of organisational factors. The production of Ph.D.'s was dependent on the year of the Ph.D. and the position of the respondent as well as on the number of papers s/he produced. A number of conclusions were drawn: a) there was support for the academic social position effect also in the humanities; b) organisational factors apparently played a minor role in comparison to individual characteristics in the humanities than in the sciences and; c) the differences in productivity of papers were also related to gender, but not to size, area or language of publications. Implications for further studies were suggested.This work was supported by a grant from the Council for Studies of Higher Education and finished while the first author was a Visiting Research Fellow at SPRU, University of Sussex, 1995. I wish to thankBen R. Martin, SPRU, University of Sussex andAnton Nederhof, CWTS, Leiden University for valuable comments on an earlier version of this paper which was presented at the workshop Studies on the Arts and Humanities and the Social Sciences, at SPRU, University of Sussex, 30 May, 1995.     

Effectiveness of the Woodruff School Doctoral Teaching Intern Program

This article discusses a unique teaching internship program that has been in place in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology since 1990. The objective of the program is to provide doctoral students who are considering an academic career an opportunity to gain teaching experience under the tutelage of a faculty member. This article summarizes the major findings from student evaluations and from surveys of former student and faculty participants and discusses the apparent need and benefit of such a doctoral teaching intern program. Benefits and drawbacks of participation are discussed from the intern, faculty mentor, and student points of view. Conclusions are drawn about the overall effectiveness of the program and recommendations are made for implementing a successful teaching internship program.     

The effect of academic inbreeding on scientific effectiveness

In academia, the term “inbreeding” refers to a situation wherein PhDs are employed in the very same institution that trained them during their doctoral studies. Academic inbreeding has a negative perception on the account that it damages both scientific effectiveness and productivity. In this article, the effect of inbreeding on scientific effectiveness is investigated through a case study. This problem is addressed by utilizing Hirsch index as a reliable metric of an academic’s scientific productivity. Utilizing the dataset, constructed with academic performance indicators of individuals from the Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering Departments, of the Turkish Technical Universities, we demonstrate that academic inbreeding has a negative impact on apparent scientific effectiveness through a negative binomial model. This model appears to be the most suitable one for the dataset which is a type of count data. We report chi-square statistics and likelihood ratio test for the parameter alpha. According to the chi-square statistics the model is significant as a whole. The incidence rate ratio for the variable “inbreeding” is estimated to be 0.11 and this ratio tells that, holding all the other factors constant, for the inbred faculty, the h-index is about 89% lower when compared to the non-inbred faculty. Furthermore, there exists negative and statistically significant correlation with an individual’s productivity and the percentage of inbred faculty members at the very same department. Excessive practice of inbreeding adversely affects the overall productivity. Decision makers are urged to limit this practice to a minimum in order to foster a vibrant research environment. Furthermore, it is also found that scientific productivity of an individual decreases towards the end of his scientific career.     

Effect of 3He impurities on the structure of quantized vortex lines and the lifetime of negative ions trapped on vortices

We use thermodynamics and statistical physics to study the effect of ³He impurities on the properties of quantized vortex lines in superfluid helium and on the escape of negative ions trapped by vortices. At very low temperatures ³He atoms condense onto vortex cores, resulting in phase separation. The binding energy of a single ³He atom is estimated to be ~0.78 K. The normal ³He-rich fluid occupies the central core region, the radius of which is determined as a function of temperature and ³He concentration. Our calculation also shows that the lifetime of electrons trapped on vortex lines decreases below ~0.6 K, increases rapidly near 0.3 K, and is almost zero for 0.3 K < T < 0.45 K.Supported in part by the African Graduate Fellowship (AFGRAD) program and by the National Science Foundation through Grant No. DMR76-18375.Based in part on a thesis submitted to the University of California, San Diego for the Ph.D. degree.     

Application of scientometric methods to chemical research in Iran: Reflections on Iran&;#39;s current science policy

Summary Following a brief historical account of the initial difficulties of introducing modern sciences, especially the Western art of independent scientific inquiry, into Iran, using data obtained from the ISI (http://access.isiproducts.com/trials) an attempt is made to analyze the apparent present successes of Iranian scientists on the international science market. Using the corresponding ISI data of the publications (1990-2003) of 24 selected young chemistry Ph.D. graduates and present faculty members at various internal academia, a quantitative and qualitative assessment (www.geocities.com/iipopescu) of their achievements has been attempted and the results related to the strengths and weaknesses of the present science policy of the country.     

My experiments with thin films—the nanostate of matter

The black art of thin films exhibiting whimsical properties and thus called ‘the fourth state of matter’ enticed the author to a challenge to unravel the mysteries of matter createdab-initio on a nanoscale. Nucleation and growth studies of evaporated and sputtered films (both polycrystalline and epitaxial) and the effects of kinetic energy, angle of incidence, electric field, substrate agitation, formation of metastable and amorphous structures, etc led to exciting discoveries. The fields of amorphous metal alloy and semiconducting films were thus born. Electron and optical transport investigations on pure and doped metal, semiconducting, oxide and polymer films established a variety of new phenomena of which the mean free path effects and specular scattering of conduction electrons in epitaxial metal films, giant thermopower in quenched metal films, sputter quenching, giant photocontraction effect in amorphous Ge-chalcogenide films, enhancement of superconducting transition temperature in transition metal films, nanosize multi layer coating (the first known superlattices) are noteworthy. A variety of new deposition processes such as solution growth of polymer films, solution growth of chalcogenide and oxide films, spray pyrolysis, coprecipitation of multicomponent oxides (for thick films), activated reactive evaporation/magnetron sputtering were innovated. This lecture will share the excitement of the contributions by the author, his 60 Ph.D students and a number of post doctoral fellows and faculty members at the Thin Film Laboratory, IIT Delhi and the Microscience Laboratory at IIT Kharagpur. Distinguished Materials Scientist Award Lecture presented at the MRSI Meeting, Kharagpur on February 8, 1995. Born in 1933 at Chahal Kalan, Panjab (now Pakistan), Kasturi Lal Chopra experienced along with his family the fiery turbulance of partition to reach Delhi. After topping in the matric examination from DAV School in 1948, he went on to earn his B. Sc. (Hons.) in 1952, and M. Sc. (1954) in Physics from Delhi University. As a World University Service Fellow, he took his Ph. D in Low Temperature Physics from the University of British Columbia, Canada. After being a post doctoral fellow at Royal Military College of Canada, and Max Planck Guest Scientist at the Fritz Haber Institute, Berlin, he took up the assignments of a Group Leader at Philco-Food Scientific Laboratory. Blue Bell in 1962 and later a Staff Scientist of Ledgemont Laboratory, Kennecott Copper Corp., USA. The IIT Delhi invited him in 1970 as a Senior Professor to head the Physics Department and establish a school of Solid State Physics. He founded the Thin Film Laboratory and served IIT Delhi for 17 years in various capacities as Head, Physics Department, Energy Centre, and Dean, Post Graduate Studies and Industrial Research and Development. He was appointed Director of IIT Kharagpur in 1987 and is presently serving a second term. He continues to actively pursue R/D activities along with research students and faculty in the Thin Film Laboratory in IIT Delhi, as also in the Microscience Laboratory founded by him at IIT Kharagpur. He has supervised over 60 Ph.D Theses, published over 400 papers and authored/coauthored: “Thin Film Solar Cells”, “Thin Film Phenomena”, “Thin Film Device Applications”, and has edited four other books. Several published papers are now Classic Citations and “Thin Film Phenomena” continues for the last 25 years to be considered a “Bible” of the field. Innovative developments of Prof. Chopra and colleagues have resulted in five US Patents, a dozen knowhow transfers to industry in India and abroad. He has served on the editorial boards of several international journals. He has lectured extensively abroad in various universities and R/D centres and consulted to several international companies. He has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society, Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences and Indian Academy of Engineering. He has delivered several memorial lectures and is the recipient of several awards: Bhatnagar Prize (Physics), Bhatnagar Award (Energy), FICCI Award (Science & Technology), Bhasin Award (Energy), Bhabha Award (Applied Sciences), INSA Krishnan Memorial Lecture Award.     

Industrial research in India as viewed throughResearch & Industry

The paper examines the bibliometric characteristics of industrial research activity of India. The study reveals that public-funded R&D is the major contributor of research papers, inResearch & Industry while the contribution of in-house R&D centres is lacking. Among the two industrial sectors (Chemical and Engineering), much of the R&D activity, as reflected by published papers, has been in chemical and allied industries. However, there appears to be a significant change in emphasis during the decade studied, namely a decrease in R&D activity in engineering industries with a corresponding increase in miscellaneous industries. There is a significant increase in exploratory research. R&D and industry interface is found inadequate. Multiplicity of authorship is gradually increasing. Indian Industrial research is heavily dependent on foreign and non-patent literature.     

The Development of an Undergraduate Distance Learning Engineering Degree for Industry - A University/Industry Collaboration

This paper documents the pioneering effort associated with the development of a Corporate Engineering Degree Program (CEDP) made available to industry personnel who desire to receive a traditional bachelor's degree via distance learning. This program, a model of a close university/industry collaboration, provides a broad vision for industry needs and makes a quality education available to adult learners. The paper explains the motivation in implementing the program, profiles students, faculty, and industry personnel, examines the challenges in implementing the program, and details accomplishments and continuing developments that have resulted since the program's inception in 1988. The paper also describes the dynamic processes of faculty enrichment and curricular development that resulted during the planning, implementation, and evolvement of the program, all of which have also had an impact on the traditional, on-campus program and students at the University of North Dakota.     

Developing Criteria for an On‐Line Learning Environment: From the Student and Faculty Perspectives*

The research literature abounds with articles about distance learning from the perspectives of students, faculty, and administrators. Most of these articles discuss the details of transitioning to on‐line learning environments. Research is beginning to pay attention to quality issues in distance learning. This article discusses a three‐phase developmental study conducted in a graduate school. Students were asked to brainstorm and develop a set of quality indicators. These indicators were ranked by a second group of students. Then the indicators were given to a group of faculty for another ranking. In this study it was shown that there was a very great agreement on the relative importance of the various potential indicators of quality in courses delivered via an on‐line medium.     

The significance of the number of highly cited papers as an indicator of scientific prolificacy

After presenting arguments that the number of highly cited papers (HCPs, 25 or more citations) has some advantages as an indicator of an author's scientific impact, the paper discusses citation data of 338 university professors in departments of medicine in the Netherlands. An analysis of the distribution of HCPs over the years provides support for the following conclusions: (1) prolific researchers with a large number of HCPs usually manifest themselves already in their Ph.D. work, apparently almost independent of the scientific setting; (2) it cannot be taken for granted that a successful Ph.D. student with some HCPs connected with his/her doctoral thesis will become a prolific successful researcher; (3) it is unlikely that an unsuccessful Ph.D. student without HCPs connected with his/her doctoral thesis will turn out to be a prolific successful researcher; and (4) for researchers, just as for artists, sportsmen, etc., talent is the most decisive factor in being successful.     

Editorial

Ph.D. training in academic labs offers the foundation for the production of knowledge workers, indispensable for the modern knowledge-based society. Nonetheless, our understanding on Ph.D. training has been insufficient due to limited access to the inside of academic labs. Furthermore, early careers of Ph.D. graduates are often difficult to follow, which makes the evaluation of training effects challenging. To address these limitations, this study aims to illustrate the settings of Ph.D. training in academic labs and examine their impact on several training outcomes, drawing on a national survey of a cohort of 5000 Ph.D. graduates from Japanese universities. The result suggests that a supervising team structure as well as the frequency of supervision, contingent to a few contextual factors, determine the Ph.D. graduates’ career decisions, performance, and degrees of satisfaction with the training programs.     

Nonexistence of aT −1/2 singularity in transport properties of simple Kondo alloys

TheT ^–1/2 divergency of the electron self-energy in simple Kondo systems with nonmagnetic impurities found by Everts and Keller is shown to be compensated by vertex corrections and therefore does not lead to aT ^–1/2 divergency in the resistivity. In mean-field approximation the modification of the resistivity anomaly can be described by a modified density of states.This paper is based on a thesis submitted by K.-P. Bohnen in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Ph.D. degree in Physics, Technische Hochschule Aachen, 1972.     

Using Industrial Summer Intern Programs as a Tool for Engineering Education

Global competition and rapid changes in technology are creating a greater need for cooperation between academia and industry. One well-established tool for promoting cooperation is the summer intern program. Unfortunately, there is limited literature regarding how these programs promote engineering education. This paper documents the objectives, methodology, and results of Project Probe^SM—a unique summer intern program offered by American Electric Power (AEP) to provide qualified engineering students with meaningful education and work experiences in electric power generation under the direct supervision of engineering faculty. This program attempts to foster cooperation between academia and the power industry, enhance the education of future engineers in areas of critical need to the industry, provide a breadth of “real-life” experiences for the development of engineering faculty, and benefit the host corporation. It is hoped that Project Probe could serve as the basis for a viable model for development of similar programs.     

Participatory ergonomics: development of an employee assessment questionnaire

Despite being essential to the success of participatory ergonomics (PEs) programs, there are currently no known quantitative measures that capture the employees’ perspective of PE program effectiveness. The present study addresses this need through the development of the Employee Perceptions of Participatory Ergonomics Questionnaire (EPPEQ). The questionnaire is designed to assess five key components that are based on a review of the available literature: Employee Involvement, Knowledge Base, Managerial Support, Employee Support, and Strain related to ergonomic changes. In Phase 1, a sample of employees and ergonomists working at a manufacturing plant was used to develop and test an initial set of items. In Phase 2, data was collected from a nation-wide sample of employees representing a wide range of jobs and organizations to cross-validate the results from Phase 1. Phase 2 results indicate that the five EPPEQ subscales demonstrate sound convergent validity and are also correlated with traditional indicators of PE program success. Implications and uses of the EPPEQ are discussed.