The authors, among them INCHER members G. Bünstorf, M. Kapa and G. Stumme, found that for both forms of collaboration, social proximity serves as the best indicator, followed by cognitive proximity. These dimensions have a stronger effect than geographic proximity, which indicates that social connection and similar knowledge are more important for collaboration than being co-located. This confirms earlier findings that effects of spatial proximity mostly derives from the localization of social networks.

Koopmann, Tobias; Stubbemann, Maximilian; Kapa, Matthias; Paris, Michael; Bünstorf, Guido; Hanika, Tom; Hotho, Andreas; Jäschke, Robert; Stumme, Gerd (2021): Proximity dimensions and the emergence of collaboration. A HypTrails study on German AI research. In: Scientometrics 39 (3), S. 617. DOI: 10.1007/s11192-021-03922-1.