Despite the fact that scientific agenda-setting is at the core of modern research and development, little is known regarding the process that leads to the definition of an agenda. The literature suggests that a series of both exogenous and endogenous factors define scientific agendas – such as formal education, hierarchical position, scientific ambition, creativity, risk tolerance, and personality. However, so far no study has been conducted in order to formally explore these relationships in a comprehensive manner. This project aims to identify the mechanisms underlying scientific agenda-setting through a multi-stage, multi-disciplinary approach, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Two quantitative instruments were developed with the goal of measuring intrinsic aspects of the research profession, such as scientific ambition or access to funding. These instruments will be deployed in two world-wide surveys, alongside other classical instruments such as personality and cognitive questionnaires, as well as critical employment and education questions. Additionally, bibliometric data (e.g., publications, citations, co-authors, and such) will be retrieved from Scopus by means of a custom-built software. This will allow the construction of an ecological model – inspired by Bandura’s triadic reciprocity framework – in order to conduct a systemic exploration of the influences of the individual’s characteristics and environment on behavior. The first survey deployment will be restricted to a single field of science in order to perform validation exercises and preliminary exploratory analysis. The second deployment will encompass all fields of science indexed in Scopus and will allow for cross-field comparisons leading to a better understanding of the specificity of each scientific culture (e.g., “hard” science versus “soft” science). Finally, a qualitative study will be carried out using interviews and document analysis, in order to further explore the previous findings from a different perspective.

--