Shortcuts to award winning research: analogies from ‘shortcuts to innovation: the use of analogies in knowledge production’

In this interview, we explore the innovative research that earned Soomi Kim the Best Paper Award at DRUID 2024. As a partner of DRUID, Industry and Innovation presents an exclusive view into the research journey behind Kim’s celebrated work. Her study ‘Shortcuts to Innovation: The Use of Analogies in Knowledge Production’ examines how innovators venture into uncharted territories, using analogies to transfer knowledge from related domains. Using structural biology as the empirical setting, her findings highlight both the advantages and limitations of employing analogy-based technologies, such as machine learning, to speed up discovery. In this conversation, Kim reveals the inspiration, challenges, and breakthroughs that defined her research, providing a unique perspective on the paths leading to her pioneering work. Just as her paper examines how analogical reasoning and its technological automation serve as shortcuts in knowledge production, this conversation offers a unique lens on the pathways that shape groundbreaking research.