The spatial relationship between the mobility and scientific cooperation of Chinese scientists

Abstract

This paper constructs a mobility network of Chinese scientists and a cooperation network of scientific research based on data on mobility and research cooperation in China at the urban scale. Through several methods, including spatial analysis, network analysis, and regression analysis, the nodes and bilateral relations in the two networks are found to be highly coupled. Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta are hot spots for the mobility and scientific research cooperation networks of Chinese scientists. Only a few cities in the two networks play important roles, and most of the cities serve as a foil. The spatial mobility and scientific research cooperation activities of Chinese scientists are concentrated in the eastern region, the Chinese scientists’ mobility and scientific research cooperation networks are rhombus structure, the two networks both are compact and hierarchical network with Beijing as the single dominant city, and the power‐law distribution in the bilateral relationship of two networks shows a “pyramid structure”. Finally, we discuss the possible reasons for the spatial co‐location relationship between the mobility and scientific cooperation of scientists.