Network analysis package igraph receives funding
Networks play an important role in various studies, ranging from analysing epidemics in human populations to studying connectivity in electrical circuits. Vincent Traag contributes to the development of igraph, a popular package for analysing large networks.
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. Together with other developers, their grant application to support igraph development was recently awarded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s Essential Open Source Software for Science program. The project will receive $180.000 (about € 165.000) in funding to expedite ongoing development.
Network analysis is a research line of the Quantitative Science Studies research group at CWTS and forms a critical component of that research field. 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 the igraph project receive 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.”