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.

Table criteria

# Institution Share 2020 Share 2021 Count 2021 Change in Adjusted Share* 2020–2021
1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States of America (USA) 142.30 153.64 344 5.7% Increase
2 Northwestern University (NU), United States of America (USA) 145.51 133.79 257 -10.0% Decrease
3 Stanford University, United States of America (USA) 144.67 130.89 295 -11.4% Decrease
4 Harvard University, United States of America (USA) 104.17 118.96 286 11.8% Increase
5 University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), United States of America (USA) 128.52 112.75 284 -14.1% Decrease
6 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), United States of America (USA) 83.70 88.34 169 3.4% Increase
7 The University of Chicago (UChicago), United States of America (USA) 75.92 86.31 181 11.3% Increase
8 University of Toronto (U of T), Canada 103.88 81.63 137 -23.0% Decrease
9 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), United States of America (USA) 96.88 81.47 184 -17.6% Decrease
10 University of Michigan (U-M), United States of America (USA) 92.48 80.85 155 -14.4% Decrease
11 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), United States of America (USA) 96.24 76.25 173 -22.4% Decrease
12 University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), United States of America (USA) 74.16 74.19 140 -2.0% Decrease
13 University of Pennsylvania (Penn), United States of America (USA) 71.39 71.84 139 -1.4% Decrease
14 University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), United States of America (USA) 78.38 68.33 122 -14.6% Decrease
15 California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States of America (USA) 64.39 68.15 141 3.7% Increase
16 Purdue University, United States of America (USA) 75.79 67.37 127 -12.9% Decrease
17 Cornell University, United States of America (USA) 90.95 66.27 156 -28.6% Decrease
18 University of Minnesota (UMN), United States of America (USA) 65.03 65.41 120 -1.5% Decrease
19 University of Washington (UW), United States of America (USA) 58.78 65.15 149 8.6% Increase
20 Yale University, United States of America (USA) 59.62 64.95 126 6.7% Increase
21 Texas A&M University (TAMU), United States of America (USA) 89.67 62.61 109 -31.6% Decrease
22 Princeton University, United States of America (USA) 65.65 58.46 124 -12.8% Decrease
23 Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), United States of America (USA) 51.14 55.24 132 5.8% Increase
24 The Ohio State University (OSU), United States of America (USA) 56.31 54.14 93 -5.8% Decrease
25 University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), United States of America (USA) 70.55 53.80 133 -25.3% Decrease
26 University of California, Irvine (UCI), United States of America (USA) 52.15 52.33 102 -1.7% Decrease
27 Columbia University in the City of New York (CU), United States of America (USA) 63.58 50.85 118 -21.7% Decrease
28 The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), United States of America (USA) 60.28 50.33 86 -18.2% Decrease
29 The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), United States of America (USA) 66.20 50.03 124 -26.0% Decrease
30 The University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada 38.22 43.15 83 10.6% Increase
31 University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), United States of America (USA) 38.66 41.87 103 6.1% Increase
32 New York University (NYU), United States of America (USA) 31.27 41.66 85 30.5% Increase
33 University of Pittsburgh (Pitt), United States of America (USA) 36.14 39.56 82 7.2% Increase
34 Johns Hopkins University (JHU), United States of America (USA) 47.32 39.05 87 -19.2% Decrease
35 University of Alberta (U of A), Canada 28.96 37.58 57 27.1% Increase
36 Rice University, United States of America (USA) 42.54 37.28 85 -14.2% Decrease
37 Indiana University (IU), United States of America (USA) 32.46 36.95 68 11.5% Increase
38 University of Florida (UF), United States of America (USA) 38.77 35.38 134 -10.6% Decrease
39 University of California, Riverside (UCR), United States of America (USA) 37.42 34.74 73 -9.1% Decrease
40 University of Delaware (UD), United States of America (USA) 37.19 34.74 68 -8.5% Decrease
41 University of Southern California (USC), United States of America (USA) 35.38 34.33 69 -5.0% Decrease
42 University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder), United States of America (USA) 35.48 33.87 78 -6.5% Decrease
43 Iowa State University, United States of America (USA) 30.58 33.85 59 8.4% Increase
44 University of California, Davis (UC Davis), United States of America (USA) 48.09 33.65 82 -31.5% Decrease
45 McGill University, Canada 33.47 32.72 66 -4.3% Decrease
46 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (RU), United States of America (USA) 29.23 32.26 81 8.1% Increase
47 University of Waterloo, Canada 30.12 31.16 64 1.3% Increase
48 University of Notre Dame (ND), United States of America (USA) 27.36 30.68 45 9.8% Increase
49 North Carolina State University (NCSU), United States of America (USA) 27.81 30.33 84 6.8% Increase
50 University of Virginia (UVA), United States of America (USA) 24.48 30.18 53 20.7% Increase
51 University of Houston (UH), United States of America (USA) 32.80 30.09 63 -10.1% Decrease
52 Duke University, United States of America (USA) 42.39 29.12 71 -32.7% Decrease
53 University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst), United States of America (USA) 32.43 26.33 57 -20.5% Decrease
54 Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), United States of America (USA) 22.17 25.93 62 14.6% Increase
55 Arizona State University (ASU), United States of America (USA) 29.26 25.77 69 -13.8% Decrease
56 Michigan State University (MSU), United States of America (USA) 23.43 24.59 47 2.8% Increase
57 Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL), United States of America (USA) 20.25 24.54 51 18.7% Increase
58 Florida State University (FSU), United States of America (USA) 41.78 24.50 105 -42.6% Decrease
59 The University of Utah (Utah), United States of America (USA) 38.15 23.88 52 -38.7% Decrease
60 University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), United States of America (USA) 29.14 22.54 66 -24.2% Decrease
61 University at Buffalo, The State University of New York (SUNY UB), United States of America (USA) 21.89 22.50 57 0.7% Increase
62 University of Ottawa (uOttawa), Canada 21.16 22.46 42 3.9% Increase
63 The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), United States of America (USA) 15.18 21.33 42 37.6% Increase
64 Emory University, United States of America (USA) 31.39 20.43 56 -36.3% Decrease
65 University of South Carolina - Columbia (SC), United States of America (USA) 16.11 20.39 35 23.9% Increase
66 University of Rochester (UR), United States of America (USA) 18.02 20.34 36 10.6% Increase
67 The University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UTK), United States of America (USA) 29.40 20.05 89 -33.2% Decrease
68 Vanderbilt University (VU), United States of America (USA) 25.78 19.86 45 -24.6% Decrease
69 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), United States of America (USA) 32.56 19.58 40 -41.1% Decrease
70 University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), United States of America (USA) 26.11 18.88 49 -29.2% Decrease
71 Boston University (BU), United States of America (USA) 18.91 18.64 57 -3.5% Decrease
72 The University of Akron (UAkron), United States of America (USA) 12.90 18.19 33 38.1% Increase
73 Boston College (BC), United States of America (USA) 18.55 18.08 39 -4.6% Decrease
74 McMaster University, Canada 18.49 17.91 31 -5.1% Decrease
75 Colorado State University, United States of America (USA) 23.72 17.85 34 -26.3% Decrease
76 Oregon State University, United States of America (USA) 21.27 17.62 40 -18.9% Decrease
77 The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern Medical Center), United States of America (USA) 21.53 17.36 29 -21.0% Decrease
78 Washington State University (WSU), United States of America (USA) 16.14 15.80 45 -4.1% Decrease
79 The City University of New York (CUNY), United States of America (USA) 16.43 15.73 36 -6.2% Decrease
80 State University of New York at Stony Brook (SUNY Stony Brook), United States of America (USA) 14.70 15.47 50 3.0% Increase
81 Western University (UWO), Canada 14.43 15.38 30 4.3% Increase
82 University of Cincinnati (UC), United States of America (USA) 13.09 15.30 25 14.5% Increase
83 The University of Arizona (Arizona), United States of America (USA) 21.02 15.26 38 -28.9% Decrease
84 The University of Kansas (KU), United States of America (USA) 18.25 15.08 22 -19.1% Decrease
85 The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas), United States of America (USA) 15.70 14.75 29 -8.0% Decrease
86 University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), United States of America (USA) 13.28 14.49 46 6.8% Increase
87 Brown University, United States of America (USA) 20.33 14.21 34 -31.5% Decrease
88 The University of Georgia (UGA), United States of America (USA) 15.41 13.36 34 -15.1% Decrease
89 Georgetown University, United States of America (USA) 8.65 13.19 22 49.3% Increase
90 University of Connecticut (UConn), United States of America (USA) 22.66 12.51 28 -45.9% Decrease
91 Auburn University, United States of America (USA) 6.97 12.08 19 69.7% Increase
92 University of Montreal (UdeM), Canada 16.57 12.06 34 -28.8% Decrease
93 State University of New York at Albany (SUNY Albany), United States of America (USA) 6.90 11.44 21 62.3% Increase
94 University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), United States of America (USA) 10.85 11.22 30 1.3% Increase
95 Northeastern University (NEU), United States of America (USA) 9.20 11.17 34 19.0% Increase
96 University of Oregon (UO), United States of America (USA) 19.22 10.85 18 -44.7% Decrease
97 University of South Florida (USF), United States of America (USA) 19.48 10.65 37 -46.4% Decrease
98 University of North Texas (UNT), United States of America (USA) 7.86 10.61 32 32.2% Increase
99 University of Missouri (Mizzou), United States of America (USA) 9.07 10.36 24 11.8% Increase
100 Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), United States of America (USA) 8.82 9.90 30 10.0% Increase

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.