Research unlocks new capabilities and develops your account as a whole. To start most technologies, you need a laboratory on the selected planet, all required prerequisites and enough resources.
How do you add research to the queue?
Choose an available technology on the Research screen. The game checks its requirements, laboratory level and cost, then deducts the resources and adds the next level to the queue. The queue limit depends on the universe configuration and can be increased by premium bonuses.
What happens when research is cancelled?
Cancelling a queue item refunds 75% of the resources paid to the planet from which that research was added. If you cancel the active item, the schedule of later items is recalculated.
Exact rules and formulas
The base research queue holds 3 entries, plus any premium queue bonus. Each entry is paid when it is added. You may queue consecutive levels of the same research; the target level takes earlier queued levels into account.
A simplified base research-time formula in hours is resource cost / (1000 × (1 + effective laboratory) × game speed), then available modifiers are applied. Intergalactic Research Network combines the best laboratories: the number included is max(1, 1 + network level), and their levels are summed.
A University on the source planet halves the base time for every level; class/avatar, resort, event and other bonuses can reduce it further.
Cancellation: 75% of the paid metal, crystal and deuterium is refunded. Cancelling a technology level also removes later queued levels of that same technology from that point, each receiving the same refund rule.
How exactly is the effective laboratory level calculated?
Intergalactic Research Network does not add its own level to a laboratory. Instead, it determines how many of the player's best laboratories are summed. The mechanic uses 1 + Network level laboratories. With labs 12, 10, 8 and 5: Network 0 gives effective lab 12, Network 1 = 22, Network 2 = 30 and Network 3 = 35.
In simplified form, before other modifiers: time [h] = total research cost / (1000 × (1 + effective lab) × game speed). Metal, crystal, deuterium and any antimatter cost are included in the total.
How strong is the University?
The University applies on the planet from which that queue item was added. Every University level adds a ×0.5 multiplier to research time: level 1 = 50% of base time, level 2 = 25%, level 3 = 12.5%, before further bonuses and events.
This means the same technology queued from two different planets can have different durations when their University levels differ. Once completed, however, the technology level is global to the account.
Calculation example
If the three best labs are 12, 10 and 8 and Research Network is level 2, effective lab is 30. For research costing 3,100,000 total resources at ×1 game speed, the base is 3,100,000 / (1000 × 31) = 100 h. University 2 on the source planet reduces that base to about 25 hours before other bonuses.
FAQ — research
Why can’t I start a research project?
Check your laboratory, required buildings or technologies, available resources and free queue space.
Does research apply to only one planet?
The technology level belongs to the account, but each queued item uses the source planet on which it was added for its cost and timing context.