A network analysis of interdisciplinary research relationships: the Korean government’s R&D grant program

This study examines network topologies of interdisciplinary research relationships in science and technology (S&T) and investigates the relational linkages between the interdisciplinary relations and the quality of research performance. A network analysis was performed to evaluate the General Research Grant (GRG) program, an interdisciplinary research funding program of the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF); the dataset covered the 2002–2004 period. The analytical results reveal the hidden network structure of interdisciplinary research relationships and demonstrate that the quality of research performance might be enhanced not only by interdependent pressures placed on various research fields but also by accumulated research capabilities that are relatively difficult to access and reproduce by other research fields.