Science produces research, a critical resource, allowing you to progress through the technology tree. The first Master of Orion uses planetary production to reflect the total production of a planet.
Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares[ | ]
Master of Orion 3[ | ]
Master of Orion: Conquer the Stars[ | ]
Science is determined indirectly by planet size and biome. All of a planet's population can be scientist. Normally the population cap, and therefore how many scientists a planet can have, is as many as it can have farmers and workers both. In addition, the advanced city planning tech achievement increases this maximum by five for all planets in the empire, and with the Unofficial Code Patch, biospheres can increase this by two more.
The base research output per scientist is the same regardless of planet: it is dictated by the value of BASE_RESEARCH_OUTPUT_PER_TILE in Globals.yaml, which is normally 3. This can be improved by certain colony structures such as the advanced data center and the astro university. Note that the university can only be built in one planet per system, so the planet with the highest population is generally the best choice. The heightened intelligence tech achievement also improves the research output of all scientists across the empire.
Besides scientists, there are several ways to get an increase in research points. Colony structures such as the research laboratory and its upgrade the autolab, deep sea cooling, the planetary supercomputer, biospheres (without Unofficial Code Patch), and moon laboratory all provide a flat bonus. The presence of artifacts on a colonized world also does so. A space factory can build an asteroid laboratory on any asteroid belt, even outside of controlled systems. Colonies built in the Ban-el-Akir, Nyemor, and Thersonia systems also generate more research through exchanges with independent civilizations. Finally research treaties should not be neglected.