Core Conclusion: Arguments for discipline investment directions generally lack a basic step—a quantitative inventory of expert reserves. Based on three query dimensions of public profiles (division, field, and level), “expert reserves” can be turned from a vague impression into comparable numbers. Data is a reference for decision-making; the final trade-offs are left to managers.
I. Origin of the Problem
At discussions on discipline layout, the most common form of argument is an experiential statement: “This direction has good prospects” and “We have accumulated experience in this field.” But both “prospects” and “accumulation” lack a verifiable intermediate quantity:How many high-level experts are actually in reserve in this direction?
II. Three Query Dimensions
The scale statistics and classification queries in MuchSci talent profiles provide three inventory dimensions:
By division—the number of experts in each division's database shows at a glance where it is strong and where it is weak;
By field—for a subfield of a division (such as computer vision), how many academicians and Distinguished Young Scholars there are in each category; classification queries provide the numbers directly;
By level—academicians and Distinguished Young Scholars are counted separately, so top-tier depth and core strength can be viewed separately.
III. A Technical Detail
The reliability of large-scale distribution statistics depends on the counting method. The profile database's scale statistics perform counts directly,unaffected by the 100-record limit per search—this means a full-database inventory can also be calculated accurately, rather than “taking the first hundred records and taking a look.”
IV. From Data to Decision
The reference process has four steps: count expert reserves → review activity trends in combination with project years → cross-compare with existing investment directions → form decision recommendations. Two boundaries must be stated: first, the profiles cover public profiles in the database; they answer “how many people there are” but cannot answer “how much should be invested”; second, investment decisions involve resources and strategy, and the final judgment rests with managers.