RESEARCH PAPERS

Analysis of the Influence of Transnational Mobility on the Career Development of Nobel Prize Scientists: A Study from the Perspective of Life Course

  • Ruan Weinan ,
  • Zhang Zhiqiang ,
  • Zhang Xue
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  • 1 National Science Library (Chengdu), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610299;
    2 Department of Information Resources Management, School of Economics and Management, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190;
    3 The Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011;
    4 School of Economics and Management, Xidian University, Xi'an 710126
Ruan Weinan,doctoral candidate;Zhang Zhiqiang,researcher,doctoral supervisor,corresponding author,E-mail:zhangzq@clas.ac.cn;Zhang Xue,Lecturer,PhD.

Received date: 2024-07-22

  Revised date: 2024-09-09

  Online published: 2025-06-11

Supported by

This work is supported by the project of the youth project of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education titled “Interdisciplinary Measurement of Major Scientific Research Project Teams and its Impact on disruptive Innovation” (Grant No. 24YJC870017), and Development Strategy Department of China Association for Science and Technology “International Science and Technology Policy Trend Tracking Research”(Grant No. CG20240517049).

Abstract

[Purpose/Significance] As scientific and technological competition among major powers intensifies, the demand for outstanding scientists has become more urgent, which leads to an increasing frequency of international mobility among scientists. In-depth discussion on the transnational mobility of Nobel prize-winning scientists in the long-term historical context and the differences in their career growth in different countries and cultural environments can provide researchers with a more comprehensive perspective to improve the understanding of how transnational mobility affects scientists’ career growth. [Method/Process] This study selected 502 Nobel scientists between 1945 and 2022 as samples, and systematically described their transnational mobility characteristics. By applying the Kaplan-Meier survival model and Cox regression survival analysis, this paper deeply investigated the career growth of scientists, and revealed the complex relationship between the transnational mobility of Nobel scientists and their career progress. [Result/Conclusion] The results show that there is a significant relationship between the destination country of transnational mobility and scientists’ career growth. In addition, factors such as gender differences, educational experiences and discipline differences also significantly influenc the career growth of transnational scientists. These findings not only provide new theoretical perspectives for the study of scientists’ career growth, but also offer important references for the formulation and implementation of China’s science and technology policy.

Cite this article

Ruan Weinan , Zhang Zhiqiang , Zhang Xue . Analysis of the Influence of Transnational Mobility on the Career Development of Nobel Prize Scientists: A Study from the Perspective of Life Course[J]. Library and Information Service, 2025 , 69(12) : 114 -126 . DOI: 10.13266/j.issn.0252-3116.2025.12.010

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