I phrased that poorly.  What I meant to ask was: Are scientists as likely to gain research bonus or administrative level skillups when they're working in a field other than their specialty as they are when they're working in their specialty?

Yes they are.

Steve

Q3: I get that scientists are more likely to gain research bonus if they're working in their specialty field than if they're not working at all.  How does working in a field other than their specialty compare?  Is that just like not working?  Just like working in their specialty?  Somewhere between?

They always get the stated bonus when working in any field.  When working in their own field, they get a multiple of the stated bonus - IIRC it's 4x.

So a 35% scientist working outside of his field would give a 1.35x multiplier to his labs, while inside his field he would give (IIRC) 2.4x

John

Q1: There's an NPR that I thought was annihilated.Not long ago, I got a Diplomacy update from them, advising me that they were now sharing gravitational survey data with me.  Does this mean they still exist out there somewhere, or am I just talking to ghosts?

Q2: (related to above)  Sometimes I receive a bunch of new system data showing up on my galactic map.  I've never noticed an event update announcing this delivery.  The deliveries seem to happen when I conquer the last population of some NPR.  Is this something that happens when you conquer someone?  Is it happening for some other reason?  Am I overlooking an event update?

Q3: I get that scientists are more likely to gain research bonus if they're working in their specialty field than if they're not working at all.  How does working in a field other than their specialty compare?  Is that just like not working?  Just like working in their specialty?  Somewhere between?

Q4: Does the size & quantity of the mineral deposits found by the geological survey scanners correlate in any way to the size and quantity of the deposits that a geology team is likely to add?  (Rephrased: I've got an extremely mineral-poor system with many bodies in it.  It's in a strong strategic position and I'd very much like for it to be a mineral-rich system.  Am I wasting my time if I go team-searching all the bodies therein?)