General Research Station - is it a good idea?

[マルコ]

one of the first things I build when I start a new game is a "General Research Station", which contain all the research modules needed to match my empire research potential.

When I build a research station near a planet that gives a bonus, that station only has 1 lab required by the blueprint and nothing more.
Is this ok or there is some benefit on having the labs on the place that gives the bonuses?

[piccolo255]

No, that's fine. There is no benefit to having more than one (relevant) lab on the bonus-providing research station. However,
1) Only the best bonus for each research area counts. Having a +20% Weapons Research on one station and +15% Weapons Research on another, gives a +20% (the larger one) total. The +15% is useless (except as a backup if the first one gets destroyed).
2) Scientist bonus and location bonus stack, and the sum is the "station bonus" used above. If you have a scientists giving +40% Weapons Research on a third station with no location bonus, that's +40% bonus total, but if you move him to a +20% station, that's +60% bonus total. Be careful that the station with scientists is well defended (pirates, war) and very large (larger station = more difficult for a spy to sabotage; if a station is sabotaged the scientists is killed).

FWIW, I also build 3-4 "general research stations" on my capital, and one-lab stations wherever necessary.

I'll also often change the lab amounts on the general research stations to prioritize research fields. E.g., if I'm researching better warp drives, I'll reduce Weapon and HT labs and increase EN labs. (Note that the research potential is a total over all fields, not per-field, so changing the ratio of labs changes how the total is split over fields.)

[Vuyek]

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