OPTIMIST

Optimization Methods in Science and Technology

The OPTIMIST platform, Optimization Methods in Science and Technology, is an initiative of the University of Belgrade, Serbia and the Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany. The goal of the collaboration is a comprehensive investigation of structures of scientific research groups and their impact on the efficiency of scientific knowledge acquisition. OPTIMIST includes researchers working in formal philosophy, science policy, computer science, and psychology.

As part of this effort we recently launched a survey for researchers in laboratories around the world, including Fermilab and Rutherford Lab. The goal of the survey is to better understand the motivations and preferences of scientists. This way we gain insights that help to maximize their efficiency by improving the quality of communication and the work environment.

Key publications of the collaboration members:

• Borg A., Frey D., Šešelja D. and Straßer C. (2018) Epistemic effects of scientific interaction: approaching the question with an argumentative agent-based model. Historical Social Research, special issue “Agent Based Modelling across Social Science, Economics, and Philosophy”, forthcoming.
• Borg A., Frey D., Šešelja D. and Straßer C., (2017) Examining Network Effects in an Argumentative Agent-Based Model of Scientific Inquiry. In A. Baltag, J. Seligman, T. Yamada (eds) Logic, Rationality, and Interaction. LORI 2017, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 10455. Springer, pp. 391-406.
• Borg A., Frey D., Šešelja D., & Straßer C. (2017) An Argumentative Agent-Based Model of Scientific Inquiry. In S. Benferhat, K. Tabia, and M. Ali (eds) Advances in Artificial Intelligence: From Theory to Practise: 30thInternational Conference on Industrial Engineering and Other Applications of Applied Intelligent Systems, 507–510.
• Frey D. & Šešelja, D., What is the Epistemic Function of Highly Idealized Agent-Based Models of Scientific Inquiry?, Under review.
• Frey D. & Šešelja, D., Robustness and Idealizations in Agent-Based Models of Scientific Interaction, Under review.
• Perović, S. Organization Theory and High Energy Physics (HEP) Mega Laboratories, Under review.
• Perović, S., Radovanović, S., Sikimić, V., & Berber, A. (2016) Optimal research team composition: data envelopment analysis of Fermilab experiments. Scientometrics, 108(1):83–111.
• Perović, S., & Sikimić, V. How Theories of Induction Can Streamline Measurements of Scientific Performance, Under review.
• Sikimić, V., Radovanović, S., & Perović, S. Predictive Analysis of Experiment Efficiency in High Energy Physics: A Machine Learning Approach, Submitted.