[Purpose/significance] The intellectual cooperation and growth of scientific research talents is an impor⁃tant driving force for scientific and technological progress. Based on the concept and measurement method of the re⁃search cooperation role, this paper studies different scientific research cooperation role evolution patterns and the driv⁃ing factors of cooperators, in order to provide references for the academic career planning of researchers and the formu⁃lation of scientific research policies in government universities. [Method/process] Based on the academic data of re⁃searchers in the database of the American Physical Society from 1998 to 2016, a measurement index of research cooper⁃ation role based on h-index and network topology index and a qualitative and quantitative measurement method are pro⁃posed to explore the evolution model of researchers’research cooperation role, and a regression model of exogenous fac⁃torsis constructed. The factors influencing the formation of evolution patterns are analyzed. [Result/conclusion] The re⁃sults show that there are different evolution patterns of research cooperation roles in the academic career, and different evolution patterns have different performance of research ability. In addition, some exogenous factors have a significant impact on the formation of evolution patterns.