A Network Approach to Studying Research Programmes: Mobilizing and Coordinating Public Responses to HIV/AIDS

A discussion of how new scientific communities are created in response to the HIV/AIDS problem is presented, based on the analysis of the EC Commission's (CEC) Medical and Public Health Research (MHR) program. The successive phases in mobilizing scientific actors are described in 3 mobilization modes: 1. public impetus, 2. scientists' initiative, and 3. scientists' initiative with public networking. The hypothesis that these new scientific communities are flexible cooperation networks is defended. In the case of AIDS research, there are only a limited number of network types: 1. the data collection structure, 2. the forum, 3. the thematic partition with harmonization of research practices, and 4. the starred around a central facility. The coordination of these scientific cooperative networks passes through fixed and circulating intermediaries. The management of these intermediaries is a major activity for involved actors.