Scientific Disciplines

Classification of Scientific Disciplines

Issue

The classification of science takes many forms and has been studied by a wide range of bodies, so the attempt here is not to do the same. The issue for EGI is the variety of uses of scientific disciplines that can be found through a number of channels (e.g. portals, databases, presentations, reports). In addition, as EGI widens its service portfolio and introduces new user communities, it will be important that we are able to assign a scientific discipline beyond those already offered in an coherent, consistent and authoritative manner that can be easily identified and standardised across the infrastructure.

Current EGI Classifications

As mentioned, EGI is currently using a variety of different classifications across a number of channels. A summary of these uses and comparisons to other publicly available classifications can be found here: http://go.egi.eu/lbhrc.

New unified classification (proposal)

We propose to have a new unified classification of scientific disciplines to be used across EGI tools. This proposal is based on the Field fo Science and Technology (FOS) classification from the "Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development". This has been adapted to match the EGI needs and serves as a basis for conversation with the VO Managers and potentially the NILs.

1. Natural Sciences

1.1 Mathematics

1.2 Computer and information sciences

1.3 Earth and related environmental sciences (Geophysics, Hydro-Meteorology)

1.4 Biological sciences (Biology, Structural Biology)

2. Physical Sciences

2.1 Astro-Particle Physics, Astrophysics, Physics, High Energy Physics

2.2 Fusion

2.3 Chemical sciences (Chemistry, Computational Chemistry)

2.4 Astronomy

3. Engineering and Technology

3.1 Civil engineering

3.2 Electrical engineering, electronic, engineering, information engineering

3.3 Mechanical engineering

3.4 Chemical engineering

3.5 Materials engineering (Material Sciences)

3.6 Medical engineering

3.7 Environmental engineering

3.8 Environmental biotechnology

3.9 Industrial Biotechnology

3.10 Nano-technology

3.11 Energy

3.12 Civil Protection

4. Medical, Health, Life Sciences

4.1 Basic medicine

4.2 Clinical medicine

4.3 Health sciences

4.4 Health biotechnology

5. Agricultural Sciences

5.1 Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries

5.2 Animal and dairy science

5.3 Veterinary science

5.4 Agricultural biotechnology

6. Social Sciences

6.1 Psychology

6.2 Economics and business (finance)

6.3 Educational sciences

6.4 Sociology

6.5 Law

6.6 Political Science

6.7 Social and economic geography

6.8 Media and communications (multimedia)

7. Humanities

7.1 History

7.2 Archaeology

7.3 Languages and literature

7.4 Philosophy, ethics and religion

Other classifications

• http://wiki.surf.nl/display/standards/info-eu-repo#info-eu-repo-ClassificationSchemes
• http://www.mii.lt/support/matematika/straipsniai/str/GlanzelClassification.pdf050529966.pdf
• http://www.acm.org/about/class/1998
• http://www.oecd.org/science/innovationinsciencetechnologyandindustry/38235147.pdf
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_academic_disciplines