How principal investigator affects academic innovation in energy-related research: an exploration from a regional perspective

ABSTRACTFund support is an important way to promote academic innovation in energy-related research. Studies have explored the effect of the principal investigator on academic innovation. These works, however, do not divide technological regions, resulting in low pertinence of the research conclusions. We collected data on energy-related funds in China and divided 30 Chinese regions into technologically advanced, medium and lagging groups, in which the influence of principal investigator on academic innovation was explored, respectively. The results indicated that the principal investigator plays an important role in local and international core academic innovation in advanced regions. In technological medium regions, the principal investigator not only acts on local core innovation but also influences international innovation. While in lagging regions, the principal investigator mainly influences the local academic innovation. The results indicated that the principal investigator and funding agencies need to consider regional technology when making policies to maximise academic innovation.KEYWORDS: Principal investigatoracademic innovationenergy-related researchregional development AcknowledgmentsThe author wish to appreciate the valuable comments of the anonymous reviewers. All errors remain the sole responsibility of the authors.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 Refer to Thomson Reuters for journal partitioning, please see https://www.webofscience.com/2 Chinese core journals are published by Peking University, please see http://www.newwenke.com/tg.php?page=13 The 985 project was initiated by the Chinese Ministry of Education on May 4, 1998. It was entitled ‘World Class Universities’ and contains 39 universities. See https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1723001581214340348&wfr=spider&for=pc4 The 211 project was initiated on November 1995. It was entitled ‘High-level University and Key Disciplinary Fields’ and includes 107 universities. See https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1723001581214340348&wfr=spider&for=pc5 See http://www.sohu.com/a/143648492_1247676 See https://cadforex.com/gdp/87497.html7 See https://output.nsfc.gov.cn/8 See http://nsfc.biomart.cn/9 See https://wap.sciencenet.cn/blog-1557-1318398.html10 See https://open.weibo.com/11 See: https://www.sciencenet.cn/Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by National Social Science Foundation (22BJY039) and Shaanxi Province Science and Technology Department project (2023-CX-RKX-075) Teaching Reform project of Xi 'an University of Posts and Telecommunications: [Grant Number JGB202109]; Scientific Research Program Funded by Shaanxi Provincial Education Department: [Grant Number 21JT035]; Postgraduate Education Reform program of Xi'an University of Posts and Telecommunications: [Grant Number YJGJ2022044].Notes on contributorsWenhui PanWenhui Pan is a lecturer in the Department of Economics and Management, Xi’an University of Posts & Telecommunications, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China. Her research areas cover knowledge discovery and management, network analysis and empirical research, specifically how network structure affects knowledge sharing. Wenhui Pan focuses on scientific network, especially the relationship between network structure and research innovation to discover how scholars select their research topics and team members to increase innovation. She uses network characteristics to analyse research trend and directions. In last years, she has published papers including:1. Wenhui Pan, Pengwei Zhao, Xianfeng Ding (2019), The effects of network structure on research innovation: an analysis from a content perspective using the data of R&D funding, Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 31(12):1430–1446. (SSCI), 000471393700001.2. Wenhui Pan, Pengwei Zhao, Chunxiu Qin, Xianfeng Ding (2020), How do new members affect the relationship between principal investigator’s network position and academic output of granted fund? Evaluation and Program Planning, Volume 78:101744 (SSCI), 000501619500011.3. Wenhui Pan, Pengwei Zhao, Xianfeng Ding (2022). How to design collaboration strategies in high-output and low-output networks: considering the role of internal social capital, Technology Analysis & Strategic Management (SSCI), Online: 000686403200001.4. Wenhui Pan (2022), Can high-interest similarity really promote the efficiency of technological collaboration?_an analysis of time and space dimensions, Technology Analysis & Strategic Management (SSCI), Online: 000814612800001.