This project aims to develop an analytical framework for the mapping and assessment of research portfolios. The notion of ?research portfolio? is increasingly used by funding agencies. However, there is no clear understanding and very little research on how to define, map and assess a research portfolio. Here we aim to develop a multi-method approach to investigate a research portfolio of a given disease.

We build on evolutionary perspectives on science dynamics, using concepts and methods from Science Technology Studies, Information Sciences and the Innovation Studies side of Evolutionary Economics. The work plan is to sequentially investigate three case studies: cervical cancer, avian flu and depression. For each case, we first carry out a scoping study to tentatively delineate the research on a disease. Second, we map the research lines a portfolio comprises, on the basis of publications. Third, we explore the diversity of a portfolio and the complementarities among different research lines under various analytical perspectives. Fourth, we use project databases from funding agencies in order to estimate resources associated with a given research line. Fifth, we interview stakeholders using a multi-criteria analysis tool to assess their valuation of the different research lines. This analysis produces a map of the research portfolio of a given disease, and its assessment under various criteria by stakeholders.