经济学人下载:为科学家服务的社交网络

Science and technology
科学技术

Social networking for scientists
为科学家服务的社交网络

Professor Facebook
教授们的Facebook

More connective tissue may make academia more efficient
更多连接支持，涌动更有效率的学术界

GIVEN journalists' penchant for sticking the suffix gate onto anything they think smells of conspiracy,
有鉴于记者们爱把见不得光的事件称为某某门。

a public-relations consultant might have suggested a different name.
有鉴于记者们爱把见不得光的事件称为某某门。

But ResearchGate, a small firm based in Berlin, is immune to such trivia.
如果研究之门公司雇佣公关顾问的话，它可能会被建议换个名字。

It is ambitious, too—aiming to do for the academic world what Mark Zuckerberg did for the world in general, by creating a social network for scientists.
不过这间柏林的小公司对这些琐事可没什么兴趣。它和Facebook 一样拥有雄伟壮志，旨在打造学术界的科学家社交网络，类似于马克·扎克伯格所建立的风靡大众的Facebook。

And it is successful.
现在它成功了。

About 1.4m researchers have signed up already, and that number is growing by 50,000 a month.
大约有140万名研究人员已经注册了该网站，而且每个月还有五万名新增用户。

Non-scientists might be surprised that such a network is needed.
普通民众或许会对科学家如此需要此类网站而感到吃惊。

After all, the internet was originally created mainly by academics for academics，
毕竟，起初因特网是大学教师们为了大学教师而创立的，

and Mr Zuckerberg's invention, Facebook, got its start on college campuses.
马克·扎克伯格的Facebook起步也是在大学校园。

But though the internet has speeded things up, it has not fundamentally changed how researchers are connected.
纵然因特网提高了信息的流通速度，但它却没从根本上改变研究人员的联系方式。

Academic communities are still pretty fragmented, frequently making it hard for scientists to find others doing similar research.
学术界仍是非常碎片化，因此科学家们常常很难找到和自己做着类似研究的人。

And results often are not shared across disciplines.
而且通常，他们的实验结果都不能实现跨学科的交流。

To make things more efficient and interdisciplinary, ResearchGate wants to help the academic world to grow more connective tissue, as Ijad Madisch, one of the firm's founders, puts it.
研究之门公司的创始人之一，伊贾德·马迪士表示，为了让科学研究变得更富有成效以及跨学科性，研究之门意欲促使学术界像结缔组织那样更具有支持连接功能。

As on Facebook, users create a profile page with biographical information, list their interests and research skills, and join groups.
像在Facebook网站那样，用户在研究之门网站上可以创立一个个人信息页，在上面填写传记性的信息,罗列他们的兴趣，研究技能以及所加入的小组。

They can see what others with similar interests are up to and post comments.
用户可以查看那些和他们有着相似兴趣的人最近的计划，以及在对方的个人页面发表评论。

They can also upload their papers and create invitation-only workgroups.
用户还可以上传自己的论文，和创立需要申请才能加入的工作小组。

The big question is whether ResearchGate will make enough money to keep its investors happy.
现在最大的问题是，研究之门能否赚取足够的利润以满足它的投资者。

So far, it is running on cash from Accel Partners and Benchmark Capital, two venture capitalists based in Silicon Valley.
迄今为止，它的资本来源于加速合伙公司和基准资本这两家硅谷的风险投资公司。

A third firm is expected to join them soon.
不久之后，预计会有第三家公司加入投资。

But these people will want a return on their investment.
不管怎样，这些投资者都想要投资回报。

Some of that may already have come from the Max Planck Society,
部分已有盈利可能来自于克思·普朗克学会。

which runs many of Germany's best research campuses and had ResearchGate build it a private network.
这个学会掌控着德国大部分最好的研究型大学资源，同时，它也让研究之门为自己创建了一个私人网络。

Over the longer haul, the firm hopes to charge companies and universities for using it to advertise jobs, and to operate a marketplace for laboratory materials.
经过比较久的艰苦经营，研究之门希望能跟那些利用其网站平台刊登职位供求广告的公司或大学征收费用。

It has no plans to post other advertising, though, nor to charge its users directly.
与此同时，研究之门计划建立一个实验室器材的市场。公司并没有计划向用户发布其他广告，而且也不计划向用户直接收取费用。

At the moment, most of those users are in their 20s.
目前，网站的大多数用户是20几岁的年轻人。

Their favourite activity is to ask each other questions about practical research problems, from DNA-sequencing techniques to statistical tricks.
他们最喜欢做的事就是向彼此询问一些有实用价值的研究问题，从DNA测序技术到统计戏法之类。

They are also busy reading each other's papers: more than 10m have been uploaded.
他们同样忙于阅读彼此的论文：有超过1000万的论文上载到研究之门。

The service certainly saves these young researchers trial and error, and therefore time and money.
很显然，这项服务减少了这些年轻的研究者犯错误以及做无效实验的次数，从而也节省了他们的时间与金钱。

They will probably also like a new feature ResearchGate is planning to introduce in April:
他们很有可能会喜欢研究之门计划于四月份推出的新功能:

a feedback system which lets users rate each other's contributions. This would allow them to build a reputation other than by publishing papers.
让用户们互评贡献的反馈系统。这个功能可以让用户找到除了发表论文之外，另一种可以建立自己声誉的渠道。

Scientists whose reputations are established may be more hesitant, though,
那些享有声誉的科学们也许会变得更犹豫不决。

and not just because they are set in their ways.
然而这并不仅仅是因为他们有自己一套坚定的准则。

Science is not only about collaboration but also about competition.
科学并不只有合作，更充满竞争。

This limits what people are willing to share.
这就限制了人们愿意分享的东西范围。

But Dr Madisch is optimistic.
但是迪福士博士对此持乐观态度。

Those who have grown up with Facebook, he says, know that sharing will improve their research.
他说，那些伴随着Facebook成长的一代，意识到分享会对他们的研究有所提高。

And their older colleagues will eventually come around—or retire.
而比他们年长的那些同事会重归此道，抑或退休。