I've only tried to steal research once or twice, but didn't succeed. It seemed to indicate that I either had a 25% chance of success, or maybe that I was stealing 25% of the knowledge per turn? But either way, after two years, I was found out and given the boot. Try this a few times (plus travel time), and it seems that doing your own research is the faster option.

Is there a way to accelerate production of gentlemen? IS there a way to "level them up"?