Networks play an important role in various studies, ranging from analysing epidemics in human populations to studying connectivity in electrical circuits. Vincent Traag, senior researcher at CWTS, contributes to the development of igraph, a popular package for analysing large networks for Python, R and Mathematica. Together with other developers, their grant application at the Essential Open Source Software for Science program from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to support igraph was recently awarded. The project receives $180.000 (about € 165.000) to expedite ongoing development of igraph.
Network analysis is a research line of the Quantitative Science Studies research group at CWTS and forms a critical component of quantitative science studies. Networks appear across science studies, ranging from co-authorship networks to citation networks. Packages such as igraph help to simplify scientometric analyses. The igraph package is highly efficient and supports the analysis of networks of millions of nodes. With interfaces in Python, R and Mathematica, the package is also easy to use.
CWTS is excited to see that the igraph project receives funding. The centre supports developments towards open science, and recognizes the importance of open source software. Ludo Waltman, deputy director of CWTS, says: “Increasingly, software developed by researchers at CWTS is made available open source. This helps others build on research efforts by CWTS and stimulates scientific progress.”