Title : User Community Dynamics at a Large-Scale Research Infrastructure: Comparative Insights from Two Cases at the SOLEIL Synchrotron
Author(s) : Arman Avadykian, Kenza Bousedra, Sandrine Wolff
Abstract : This article analyzes the role of large-scale Research Infrastructures (RIs) in structuring the scientific landscape through the study of the dynamics of their academic user communities. We adopt a qualitative, meso-level approach to understand how an RI influences the emergence and evolution of scientific collectives. The study relies on a comparative analysis of two distinct cases at the SOLEIL synchrotron facility: the biomedical sciences user community and the quantum materials user community. Drawing on a theoretical framework built from the literature on the social and scientific impacts of RIs, as well as on communities of practice and social networks, the analysis reveals two contrasted dynamics of community development. The biomedical community, which is emerging, is characterized by high heterogeneity, weak ties, and an individual mode of instrument appropriation that relies on boundary spanners to bridge the gap between the clinical world and the research infrastructure. In contrast, the quantum materials community, which is more structured, exhibits a collective mode of appropriation marked by strong ties, high visibility, and the integration of RI scientists as full scientific peers. These results highlight two distinct trajectories: the convergence of pre-existing disciplines into a new collective, and the specialization of a new branch within an established scientific community.
Key-words : Research Infrastructures, Meso-Level Evaluation, Qualitative Method, Case Study, Scientific communities, User communities, Knowing Communities, Communities of Practice.
JEL Classification : O32, O38
