A network analysis of interdisciplinary research relationships: the Korean government’s R&D grant program Chang Hoon Yang • Han Woo Park • Jungeun Heo Received: 29 October 2008 / Published online: 29 January 2010 Ó Akade ´miai Kiado ´, Budapest, Hungary 2010 Abstract This study examines network topologies of interdisciplinary research relation- ships in science and technology (S&T) and investigates the relational linkages between the interdisciplinary relations and the quality of research performance. A network analysis was performed to evaluate the General Research Grant (GRG) program, an interdisciplinary research funding program of the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF); the dataset covered the 2002–2004 period. The analytical results reveal the hidden network structure of interdisciplinary research relationships and demonstrate that the quality of research performance might be enhanced not only by interdependent pressures placed on various research fields but also by accumulated research capabilities that are relatively difficult to access and reproduce by other research fields. Keywords Network analysis  Network topology  Interdisciplinary research relationships  Government’s R&D grant program Han Woo Park is considered as co-first author. C. H. Yang Department of Public Administration, Kwandong University, 522 Naegok-dong, Gangneung-si, Gangwon-do 210-701, South Korea e-mail: cy8064@kd.ac.kr H. W. Park Department of Media and Communication, YeungNam University, 214-1 Dae-dong, Gyeongsan-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do 712-749, South Korea e-mail: hanpark@ynu.ac.kr J. Heo (&) Division of Future Strategy, National Research Foundation of Korea, 165 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-350, South Korea e-mail: prettyheo@nrf.go.kr 123 Scientometrics (2010) 83:77–92 DOI 10.1007/s11192-010-0157-0