2022 Research Leaders: Leading academic institutions in chemistry

The 2022 Research Leaders are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021.

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Position Institution Share 2020 Share 2021 Count 2021 Change in Adjusted Share* 2020–2021
1 University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), China 246.15 272.01 623 8.2% Increase
2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), China 195.48 264.68 1183 32.6% Increase
3 Nanjing University (NJU), China 215.28 235.15 431 7.0% Increase
4 Tsinghua University, China 173.72 207.98 518 17.2% Increase
5 Nankai University (NKU), China 155.63 202.28 370 27.3% Increase
6 Fudan University, China 138.33 199.14 379 41.0% Increase
7 Zhejiang University (ZJU), China 169.16 195.39 400 13.1% Increase
8 Peking University (PKU), China 180.12 190.35 687 3.5% Increase
9 Sichuan University (SCU), China 153.90 170.97 262 8.8% Increase
10 Soochow University, China 138.99 159.21 282 12.2% Increase
11 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States of America (USA) 142.30 153.64 344 5.7% Increase
12 Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), China 142.94 152.36 374 4.4% Increase
13 The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Japan 162.21 151.76 298 -8.4% Decrease
14 Xiamen University (XMU), China 128.09 139.25 260 6.5% Increase
15 Jilin University (JLU), China 138.78 139.22 243 -1.8% Decrease
16 Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), China 114.03 138.57 303 19.0% Increase
17 Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), China 124.42 135.64 329 6.8% Increase
18 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland 120.63 135.62 286 10.1% Increase
19 Northwestern University (NU), United States of America (USA) 145.51 133.79 257 -10.0% Decrease
20 National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore 137.52 131.59 349 -6.3% Decrease
21 Stanford University, United States of America (USA) 144.67 130.89 295 -11.4% Decrease
22 Hunan University (HNU), China 101.74 123.73 204 19.1% Increase
23 Wuhan University (WHU), China 120.79 122.87 218 -0.4% Decrease
24 Kyoto University, Japan 134.75 121.69 257 -11.6% Decrease
25 Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore 112.91 121.57 288 5.5% Increase
26 Harvard University, United States of America (USA) 104.17 118.96 286 11.8% Increase
27 University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK) 125.07 115.69 273 -9.4% Decrease
28 Tianjin University (TJU), China 117.80 113.84 317 -5.4% Decrease
29 University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK) 120.87 113.74 264 -7.8% Decrease
30 University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), United States of America (USA) 128.52 112.75 284 -14.1% Decrease
31 South China University of Technology (SCUT), China 76.06 110.47 225 42.2% Increase
32 Shandong University (SDU), China 71.07 109.40 224 50.8% Increase
33 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland 115.26 106.58 195 -9.4% Decrease
34 Osaka University, Japan 107.51 100.65 190 -8.3% Decrease
35 Zhengzhou University (ZZU), China 79.23 93.04 302 15.0% Increase
36 Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), China 53.61 92.33 193 68.7% Increase
37 East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), China 96.76 91.28 153 -7.6% Decrease
38 University of Münster (WWU), Germany 74.95 90.26 132 17.9% Increase
39 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), United States of America (USA) 83.70 88.34 169 3.4% Increase
40 Seoul National University (SNU), South Korea 97.40 87.77 174 -11.8% Decrease
41 The University of Chicago (UChicago), United States of America (USA) 75.92 86.31 181 11.3% Increase
42 Fuzhou University (FZU), China 50.38 86.23 185 67.6% Increase
43 East China Normal University (ECNU), China 85.72 85.15 196 -2.7% Decrease
44 Dalian University of Technology (DUT), China 55.45 83.82 170 48.0% Increase
45 Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), Japan 77.70 82.83 151 4.4% Increase
46 University of Toronto (U of T), Canada 103.88 81.63 137 -23.0% Decrease
47 Lanzhou University (LZU), China 70.25 81.62 158 13.8% Increase
48 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), United States of America (USA) 96.88 81.47 184 -17.6% Decrease
49 University of Michigan (U-M), United States of America (USA) 92.48 80.85 155 -14.4% Decrease
50 Chongqing University (CQU), China 38.64 79.68 136 101.9% Increase
51 Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China 70.91 78.97 200 9.1% Increase
52 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), United States of America (USA) 96.24 76.25 173 -22.4% Decrease
53 Shandong Normal University (SDNU), China 63.96 75.63 104 15.8% Increase
54 University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), United States of America (USA) 74.16 74.19 140 -2.0% Decrease
55 Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), China 81.78 73.83 154 -11.6% Decrease
56 Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany 59.06 73.14 168 21.3% Increase
57 University of Pennsylvania (Penn), United States of America (USA) 71.39 71.84 139 -1.4% Decrease
58 Imperial College London (ICL), United Kingdom (UK) 73.48 71.79 206 -4.3% Decrease
59 Central South University (CSU), China 40.42 71.47 134 73.2% Increase
60 The University of Manchester (UoM), United Kingdom (UK) 78.97 70.76 151 -12.2% Decrease
61 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), South Korea 86.70 69.20 152 -21.8% Decrease
62 Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany 52.20 68.50 184 28.5% Increase
63 University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), United States of America (USA) 78.38 68.33 122 -14.6% Decrease
64 California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States of America (USA) 64.39 68.15 141 3.7% Increase
65 Purdue University, United States of America (USA) 75.79 67.37 127 -12.9% Decrease
66 Cornell University, United States of America (USA) 90.95 66.27 156 -28.6% Decrease
67 University of Minnesota (UMN), United States of America (USA) 65.03 65.41 120 -1.5% Decrease
68 University of Washington (UW), United States of America (USA) 58.78 65.15 149 8.6% Increase
69 Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT), China 59.41 65.12 131 7.3% Increase
70 Hokkaido University, Japan 60.54 65.00 143 5.1% Increase
71 Yale University, United States of America (USA) 59.62 64.95 126 6.7% Increase
72 Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU), China 57.51 63.85 151 8.7% Increase
73 Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), Germany 58.95 63.14 154 4.9% Increase
74 Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), South Korea 47.53 62.81 134 29.4% Increase
75 Texas A&M University (TAMU), United States of America (USA) 89.67 62.61 109 -31.6% Decrease
76 The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), China 42.62 62.40 210 43.4% Increase
77 Nagoya University, Japan 67.20 60.07 117 -12.4% Decrease
78 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia 61.33 59.16 137 -5.5% Decrease
79 Princeton University, United States of America (USA) 65.65 58.46 124 -12.8% Decrease
80 University of Würzburg (JMU), Germany 59.52 57.80 116 -4.9% Decrease
81 City University of Hong Kong (CityU), China 57.93 57.27 175 -3.2% Decrease
82 Shenzhen University (SZU), China 49.07 57.17 168 14.1% Increase
83 RWTH Aachen University (RWTH Aachen), Germany 58.59 56.80 165 -5.1% Decrease
84 Tongji University, China 28.31 56.00 135 93.7% Increase
85 Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), United States of America (USA) 51.14 55.24 132 5.8% Increase
86 Southwest University (SWU), China 55.60 55.17 65 -2.8% Decrease
87 Tohoku University, Japan 62.35 54.79 137 -13.9% Decrease
88 The Ohio State University (OSU), United States of America (USA) 56.31 54.14 93 -5.8% Decrease
89 University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), United States of America (USA) 70.55 53.80 133 -25.3% Decrease
90 Kyushu University, Japan 60.49 52.82 113 -14.5% Decrease
91 Beijing Normal University (BNU), China 42.86 52.67 117 20.3% Increase
92 University of California, Irvine (UCI), United States of America (USA) 52.15 52.33 102 -1.7% Decrease
93 The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), China 52.02 51.95 154 -2.2% Decrease
94 University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia 51.37 51.53 128 -1.8% Decrease
95 Columbia University in the City of New York (CU), United States of America (USA) 63.58 50.85 118 -21.7% Decrease
96 Shaanxi Normal University (SNNU), China 53.06 50.83 81 -6.2% Decrease
97 The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), United States of America (USA) 60.28 50.33 86 -18.2% Decrease
98 Southeast University (SEU), China 48.79 50.11 119 0.6% Increase
99 The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), United States of America (USA) 66.20 50.03 124 -26.0% Decrease
100 University of Groningen (RUG), Netherlands 50.97 49.96 98 -4.0% Decrease

Footnote

Each year, the Nature Index publishes tables based on counts of high-quality research outputs in the previous calendar year. Users please note:

  1. The data behind the tables are based on a relatively small proportion of total research papers, they cover the natural sciences and health sciences only and outputs are non-normalized (that is, they don’t reflect the size of the country or institution, or its overall research output).
  2. The Nature Index is one indicator of institutional research performance. The metrics of Count and Share used to order Nature Index listings are based on an institution’s or country’s publication output in 145 natural-science and health-science journals. The journals were selected on reputation by an independent panel of leading scientists in their fields. The list is reviewed periodically and journals may be removed or added. Articles from eLife were no longer included in the Nature Index from 2023 after the journal changed its publishing model.
  3. Nature Index recognizes that many other factors must be taken into account when considering research quality and institutional performance; Nature Index metrics alone should not be used to assess institutions or individuals.
  4. Nature Index data and methods are transparent and available under a creative commons licence at nature.com/nature-index/.
  5. Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

The Nature Index database undergoes regular updating, corrections, adjustment of institutional hierarchies, and removal of retracted papers and thus the live website can differ from the frozen research leaders.


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