Analyzing and modeling European R&D collaborations: Challenges and opportunities from a large social network

Networks have attracted a burst of attention in the last decade, with applications to natural, social, and technological systems. While networks provide a powerful abstraction for investigating relationships and interactions, the preparation and analysis of complex real-world networks nonetheless presents significant challenges. In particular social networks are characterized by a large number of different properties and generation mechanisms which require a rich set of indicators. The objective of the current study is to analyze large social networks with respect to their community structure and mechanisms of network formation. As a case study, we consider networks derived from the European Union's Framework Programs for Research and Technological Development using methods from statistical physics and economic geography.