Summary: A recent study finds that Nobel Prize winners who moved frequently or worked across multiple locations began their prize-winning research significantly earlier than peers who remained at a single institution. By exposing themselves to new ideas, different collaborators, and varied working environments, mobile scientists accelerated the onset of their most creative breakthroughs.
The research suggests that changing locations—or splitting time between distinct institutions—can foster the mixing of ideas that leads to novel discoveries. This mobility-driven advantage may also extend beyond the sciences to other creative fields that depend on fresh perspectives and original combinations of knowledge.
Key facts
- Mobility increases innovation: Scientists who moved more often began Nobel-winning work up to 2 years earlier; working in multiple locations corresponded to starting prize-winning research up to 2.6 years earlier.
- Diverse ideas matter: Exposure to different intellectual environments promotes unique recombinations of concepts that spark creative breakthroughs.
- Broad implications: The findings are relevant to researchers in chemistry, medicine and physics and suggest possible benefits for artists and other creative professionals.
Source: Ohio State University
Overview
A team led by Bruce Weinberg of The Ohio State University, together with John Ham (NYU Abu Dhabi) and Brian Quistorff (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis), analyzed an extensive dataset of Nobel laureates in chemistry, medicine and physics spanning 1901 to 2003. The dataset records each laureate’s location history and the year they began the research that ultimately earned them a Nobel Prize.
Their analysis supports a “recombinant innovation” view: encountering distinct ideas in different places allows researchers to combine concepts in new ways, increasing the likelihood and speed of major discoveries. Weinberg and colleagues estimate that moving to a new location every two years shortened the expected time before starting Nobel-worthy work by about two years; moving every five years reduced that interval by roughly 0.7 years. Working in multiple locations—such as dividing time between a university and a major research facility—was associated with a 2.6-year reduction in the expected time to begin prize-winning work.
While many laureates begin their influential work early—5% to 10% in the first year of their careers—others take a decade or more, and a few take several decades to start their Nobel-winning research. The study found that the average time to begin prize-winning work remained consistent across the 1901–2003 period and across the three scientific fields examined.
How mobility fuels creativity
The authors argue that being surrounded by excellent colleagues at a single institution can produce valuable knowledge spillovers, but prolonged exposure to the same group can also lead to a shared, common understanding that limits the arrival of radically new ideas. Moving between institutions—or maintaining active ties to different research environments—introduces alternative perspectives, methods and conversations that researchers can recombine in unexpected ways.
Weinberg notes that moving a lab or splitting professional time across locations is not trivial, yet the potential payoff for accelerating innovative output can be substantial. He also suggests that organized opportunities for temporary relocation—such as sabbaticals or extended collaborations—might offer similar creative benefits, though the present study does not directly measure sabbatical effects.
Implications beyond the lab
Although the analysis focuses on Nobel laureates in the sciences, the underlying principle—novel combinations of ideas foster creativity—may be relevant to a wide range of creative pursuits. Artists, designers, and other professionals who rely on original thinking could also benefit from new environments and broader intellectual networks.
The researchers acknowledge limitations: the study examines a specific group of elite scientists, and it cannot fully separate all mechanisms that make new environments stimulating. For example, relocating may inspire creativity through changes in context or daily routine as well as through new collaborators; the current data cannot disentangle these effects completely.
Funding
This research received support from the National Science Foundation, the National Institute on Aging, the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research, the National Bureau of Economic Research, and the John Templeton, Ewing Marion Kauffman, and Alfred P. Sloan Foundations.
About this research and contact
Author: Jeff Grabmeier
Source: Ohio State University
Contact: Jeff Grabmeier – Ohio State University
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original research (open access): “Recombinant Innovation, Novel Ideas, and the Start of Nobel Prize–Winning Work” by Bruce Weinberg et al., published in International Economic Review.
Abstract
Recombinant Innovation, Novel Ideas, and the Start of Nobel Prize–Winning Work
The study adopts a recombinant view of innovation, arguing that being in a new location and/or multiple locations increases exposure to novel combinations of ideas that raise the creativity of top scientists. Using a rich dataset assembled by the authors, they estimate the relationship between location mobility and the expected interval before an eventual Nobel laureate commences their prize-winning work. The results show that both moving to new locations and working in multiple locations are significantly associated with a shorter expected interval before beginning Nobel Prize–winning research.