by Limitless333
In the round 3 scenario, the 4 QICs can earn you a tech tile (which comes with a research step), while 6 knowledge gain you 1.5 research steps. I feel that the tech tile is worth more than the 50% research step, unless I've calculated that these 2 knowledge will make the difference to achieve some critical research level at the right time/before an opponent.
Would it be fair to estimate that 4 QIC gives you 1 tech bump and 7 point tile on average? I would rate it around 11 VP 4 for the tech bump and 7 for the tile. This is way better than 1.5 tech bumps which is only worth around 6 points.