Networks are pervasive in the real world. Nature, society, economy, and
technology are supported by ostensibly different networks that in fact share an
amazing number of interesting structural properties.
Computer science is a relatively young discipline combining science,
engineering, and mathematics. The main flavors of computer science research
involve the theoretical development of conceptual models for the different
aspects of computing and the more applicative building of software artifacts
and assessment of their properties. In the computer science publication
culture, conferences are an important vehicle to quickly move ideas, and
journals often publish deeper versions of papers already presented at
conferences.
In December 2003, seventeen years after the first UK research assessment
exercise, Italy started up its first-ever national research evaluation, with
the aim to evaluate, using the peer review method, the excellence of the
national research production. The evaluation involved 20 disciplinary areas,
102 research structures, 18,500 research products and 6,661 peer reviewers
(1,465 from abroad); it had a direct cost of 3.55 millions Euros and a time
length spanning over 18 months.